Sacrifices
by AsgardianHobbit98
Summary: Follow the adventures of Avery, a young woman who meets the Doctor and decides to travel with him. However, Avery has secrets that not even she herself knows about. What will happen when she finds out that those secrets may be the death of her? [Doctor/OC]
1. Book I: San Francisco's Secret

**Sacrifices**

 **Book I: San Francisco's Secret**

The Doctor and Rose land in San Francisco during the 26th century. However, something is wrong and the Doctor and Rose soon find themselves in yet another life-threatening adventure involving both earthquakes and tsunamis. Though the Doctor has faced all sorts of aliens, will he be able to save the city from something that seems to be caused by mother nature? Luckily, this time, he gets some help from a young woman called Avery. Though, she may be just an average human, she's carrying secrets not even she knows about.

* * *

 **A/N:** I am not from an English speaking country. Apologies for any grammatical faults. Please, do not be afraid to correct me if anything is very weirdly written! And, this story came up into my head after having seen San Andreas, a great movie by the way, so a lot in the beginning is inspired by that. That might be why you recognize most of the beginning if you've seen the movie :P **BUT! You don't have to have seen the movie** to understand anything that is happening! I was only **inspired by this movie**. So, please, give it a shot at least :)


	2. Chapter 1, Prologue

**San Francisco's secret**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Doctor Who, the BBC does. All I own are my own characters and my own plot (except for the part of the plot that's inspired by San Andreas… I don't own that movie either.)

* * *

 **Chapter 1  
Prologue**

 **Hoover Dam, Nevada, USA  
Year, 2578**

Professor Utah stood leaning against the stone railing, a computer screen propped up on the stone in front of him. In his ear, an earpiece was attached and he could hear every report that his dear friend and colleague told him. Seconds after his colleague's latest report, the same readings would come to his screen so that he could double check it before uploading it onto the nano-stick.

He had devoted his life into this work and he felt quite excited about finally having a lead to something that might just be an answer to their questions and theories. His colleague, Erik, was inside the Hoover Dam's lower tubes, being able to pick up readings of the small earthquakes that were going on underneath them. They were tiny and no one could feel them underneath their feet, but they might mean something and if they did, all future catastrophes caused by earthquakes might be able to be stopped. They were both semiologists, working with exactly this, earthquakes. It had been Erik who had ran into the Professor's study with the readings of tiny quakes happening near Hoover dam and had it not been for him, neither of them would've managed to get there in time. The readings showed that it was only going to be a small earthquake, nothing that would need an evacuation or anything like that. Though, the readings could help them create a new machine that could prevent earthquakes from creating massive destruction. A lot of people thought it was against the law of nature, though their idea was not to prevent earthquakes from happening. Their idea was to make the very surface unaffected by these earthquakes, at least as unaffected as they could make it.

Erik was a bright young man and the Professor had no doubt about the fact that Erik would, one day, be able to take over the work of the Professor completely, maybe even enhancing it. They had been close all their lives, to creating a machine that could save thousands of cities from mass destruction, _and_ had it not been for the two of them, the theory of tiny earthquakes being the first sign of a big earthquake with a major magnitude wouldn't have every come to use in a machine that could prevent it so early, that entire cities could be evacuated before the major earthquake hit them. Their creation had saved so many lives that one would think that they were satisfied. However, evacuation took a lot of time and effort. To make the surface completely safe to live on would save more energy and more lives as not all the people always managed to get out in time.

"Is this going to escalate into a big one, Erik?" asked the Professor through the ear piece, watching some tourists far away from him taking a picture of the Hoover Dam, accidentally causing him to be in the picture as well.

" _I highly doubt it,"_ replied Erik through the ear piece. _"These readings are too small for that. Though, we can use it for our machine."_

"Good," said the Professor, nodding his head once.

He straightened his back, looking around at the people around him. There were families, couples and groups of friends scattered all over the place, either taking pictures of the dam or simply walking across it. He himself found the dam rather impressive as well. On one side, there was water almost reaching up to the side of the stone railing while the other side of the dam was completely dry. Two mountain walls existed there, having once kept the water at bay. Now, a couple miles away from the mountain walls, a city was located. It was newly built and there were almost only skyscrapers higher than the _third empire state_ building. The view amazed him and therefore, his eyes were not on the screen of his computer where the readings were spiking drastically and illogically now.

"Professor?" said Erik through the earpiece, causing the professor to hum an answer, his mind on the view in front of him. "The readings… They're… They're spiking."

Immediately, the professor's eyes went down to the screen in front of him, seeing the readings of the quakes going up to three… four… five…

The stone railing that the professor had propped his screen up on started to shake, making the professor grab his screen, his eyes wide with shock. This was illogical. It was near to impossible for an earthquake to grow so big so fast. Most of the time, the machines they used to keep an eye on the blocks of the Earth in order to make sure that there wouldn't be a large catastrophe, were hours too early with sending out signal. Now, they hadn't even noticed that this was going to escalate.

"Erik, get out of there!" called the professor as the ground beneath his feet suddenly lurched, causing everyone to fall over.

There was a loud noise in a low frequency that resonated of the mountain walls, the ground suddenly calming down. The Professor stood up again, watching his screen as the earthquake they had just felt moved. It was an odd quake as this had been just a simple lurch and nothing more. It made him wonder what these quakes really were. However, he soon realized that the quake had done more damage than he had originally thought. Most of the pieces of the bridge that they were all standing on was cracked in several places and some people had gotten hurt in the fall. A group of friends were screaming for help as they leaned over the railing, reaching out for one of their friends who had fallen over the edge, hanging loosely from the railing and risking a deadly fall to the ground beneath him.

The professor, still shocked about the quake, looked behind him at the water to where several tourist groups were pointing. He saw the water was unruly, throwing itself against the side of the dam fiercely. The low pitched sound stopped and for a moment, everything was dead silent. Earlier, the professor had heard birds sing but now, even they had stopped. A small beeping was heard from the screen he held in his hands and he looked at it, eyes widening when he suddenly saw the readings of another earthquake at the exact same spot that the Hoover Dam was on. His eyes widened and he started screaming for the others to move away from the dam, knowing full and well that the dam might just not survive another quake as big as the last one.

When the ground lurched again, the professor and the others started running away from the dam, fighting their way towards the solid ground. Cracking was heard behind the professor and as he reached solid ground, he turned around, seeing the water become more and more wild with every second that went by. The dam itself started cracking, the ground on which some people were still running was slowly moving and giving way to the strong water.

The professor had a moment of pride as he realized that everyone was safe away from the dam itself, the ground still shaking furiously underneath their legs. Though that feeling was soon gone as he saw Erik running towards him, jumping over cracks in the ground that were too large for him to walk over. In his hands, he held the equipment that he had used inside the dam structure itself and his eyes were wide with fear as water splashed onto him, the stone railing already being drenched by the water.

"Run, Erik!" called the professor as he watched the ground behind Erik crack and disappear.

It wasn't until the ground stopped shaking that the dam itself stopped getting destroyed, however it was not over yet. Erik had launched himself over a large crack in the stone ground that he was running on, being quite close to the professor and solid ground. However, as the ground stopped moving, the dam had cracked one last time, causing the ground beneath him to shift. A small metal pole had popped out of the dam, it being part of what made the dam strong enough to withstand the water. Though, this was not something Erik had thought of and he had landed right were the pole had appeared from the ground.

People screamed and the professor froze as he saw Erik hoover in the air, his eyes still wide though his body not moving. Blood seeped out of his mouth, his gaze locked on the ground which he had wanted to land on. Although he wanted to, the professor couldn't move towards his colleague. He had been impaled and he knew that there was nothing else for him to do, which pained him greatly. However, the equipment that Erik still had in his hands could help them stop anything like this from ever happening again. He let the screen in his hands fall to the ground, not caring that it cracked into a million pieces. His eyes and mind were set on the equipment of the young boy not too far away from him.

Had the screen not cracked as it did, the professor might had seen the readings of an after quake coming in, though he didn't see this. And therefore, he started running towards Erik's dead body. It wasn't long until he regretted this decision. Not just because he found it stupid that he was running for equipment and not for Erik, but also because he could feel the after quake now, not to mention the fact that the ground was cracking again. He knew the dam was going to break and that he, if he kept on running, risked to be washed away with the water that came after the dam had broken. But he kept on going, knowing that that equipment and the readings on it had the potential to save millions of people not to mention that Erik had given his life for this and that he needed to at least do something to make it up to him.

As he reached Erik, he could barely look at him, grabbing the case with the equipment instead and immediately turning back around again, wasting no time by looking at the dam that was slowly falling apart. Water was already starting to gush over the edges and for a split second, the Professor looked over at the newly built city and mourned the people in there, knowing that they were in grave danger by now and that no one had time to warn them or evacuate the city. The moment the dam broke, the water would flow over the city, drowning it. Perhaps the skyscrapers that survived the pressure of the water and they might hold some survivors at the top, but there would still be thousands of people that were going to drown.

He jumped up to solid ground, the dam giving way to the water only a split second before he managed to get to safety again. He turned around, seeing Erik's body wash away with the water and all the structure of the dam. His eyes followed the water as it washed over the city like a tsunami. Never had the professor's job as a semiologist caused him this much pain. Throughout his life, he had predicted many quakes as big as this one and he had even taught many people to do exactly what he did. The fact that those people down there were now dead because of him and not being able to save them caused his heart to fall down to his stomach. Not only had he lost Erik, he had also lost all faith in his work.

* * *

 **San Fransisco, California, USA  
Year, 2578, two hours after first earthquake**

The TARDIS landed in an alley of the city, the ship having drawn no attention to her whatsoever as no one had been around to see her. The doors creaked open, revealing a man and a woman. The man wore a striped suit, a leather coat and converse on his feet. Although it normally shouldn't have fit together, on this man it suited him quite well. The woman next to him was young and quite beautiful. She had short, blonde hair, thick eyelashes thanks to mascara, and ordinary clothes on; a pair of jeans, an orange shirt and a jeans jacket covering her shirt. She had a wide smile plastered on her lips as she grabbed the Man's arm, walking away from the TARDIS with him.

"New York! I've always wanted to go here," said the woman, her name being Rose. "Thought it looked a bit more… stylish than this though."

"Oh! This is just an alley, Wait until you see the streets! Oh, we need to go to Harlem. Have a friend there that…" said the Doctor, the man whom Rose was with. He trailed off at the end of this sentence as they both exited the side alley they had landed in, his smile going away and a confused look replacing it instead. "Hold on…"

"Why is everything so… modern?" asked Rose as she watched the people walk by.

They wore strange clothes that didn't seem to be what Rose had seen in the magazines that she read during her spare time. In fact, none of it looked like anything she'd ever seen in the magazines. The buildings looked different and the cars… _they_ looked different. They barely made a noise as they swished past them and they didn't have any wheels either. They seemed to be floating in mid-air.

"This isn't even New York!" said the Doctor, earning a look from one of the passing by people who overheard what he had said.

Letting go of Rose's arm, the Doctor started to walk towards one of the many shops which existed at the bottom of each skyscraper. He looked inside of a window, pressing his face against the glass in order to see and seeing the shop was for buying the latest Weyland-screens, which resembled an old fashioned television though it being much more advanced. It was a simple square with which you could watch shows or do homework. Although it was see-through square screens and quite small, you could make them bigger simply by pressing a few keys, the biggest setting being the size of a seven meter high, square wall. On one of the screens, he saw the news being broadcasted and he quickly grabbed Rose, dragging her inside.

He walked over to the screen with the news broadcasted on it and stared at it, shocked to find himself in the 26th century.

" _Latest news have just been reported. The city of Hoover was just hit by the Colorado River after a 7.1 earthquake. The after shakes of the quake have been reported were the reason of the Hoover dam cracking and-"_

"Impossible," said the Doctor, causing Rose to look between him and the screen in front of them.

"Doctor?" she asked.

"We're in the 26th century!" he exclaimed. "And in San Francisco if I'm not mistaken."

He turned towards Rose, looking her in the eyes. "What happened? I thought we were going to New York… in the _21_ _st_ century."

"We were. But the TARDIS must have sensed this," he said, pointing back at the screen with the news still being broadcasted.

A picture of the Colorado River running through a city, skyscrapers falling down and debris following with the water, was seen and Rose raised her eyebrows.

"That's never supposed to happen," said the Doctor. "Something's wrong."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Don't forget to let me know what you thought about the story by commenting!**


	3. Chapter 2, San Francisco

**San Francisco's secret**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Doctor Who, the BBC does. All I own are my own characters and my own plot (except for the part of the plot that's inspired by San Andreas… I don't own that movie either.)

* * *

 **Chapter 2  
San Francisco  
**

 **Oakland, California, USA**

Tim sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. He stood in the middle of his daughter's room, not sure of where to look for what she had asked for him to bring. It had been months since she had stayed with him in his house and the room was slightly dusty. It was a big room, the walls painted pink. She had wanted to repaint it for a while now, but Tim had never gotten himself to do so. The colour brought back memories of his daughter when she had been a little girl with wild dark locks framing her perfect face. She had pushed her parents into painting her room pink instead of the blue colour it was at first and he still remembered the happiness that had filled her eyes that day when she got back from school on a Friday, buckets of pink paint having been placed in her room so that they could, all together, paint her room the way she wanted it.

Those were the days when Tim still felt happy inside. His little girl had meant the world to him but things changed. Things always change. And the happiness he felt disappeared. His wife couldn't stand not being able to reach out to his heart anymore and left him and his daughter was now barely with him anymore. She'd grown up fast and was near a young adult now, nearly nineteen. Although a part of him felt like _his_ daughter never passed the age of eight.

He opened up a few drawers, finally finding what he had been searching for; the keys to his daughter's bike. They were in fact the spare keys, but she had lost the other pair of keys and so, he had to go and give them to her. His job started in two hours and he reckoned he'd have time to go up to meet his daughter, delivering the keys, before going to work.

As he walked to the front door, his gaze caught sight of the divorce papers that were placed on the kitchen table. He froze slightly, feeling guilt wash over him. He still loved his wife and he didn't want to let her go. But sooner or later, he was going to have to. After all, she'd already found someone better than him.

* * *

 **San Francisco, California, USA**

"This truly is impossible," said the Doctor, frowning.

"Why is this impossible? This has happened before, the TARIS wanting to go somewhere else, right?" asked Rose as they both walked down the streets of San Francisco.

"Yeah… Somewhere else is fine, but a different year is something completely different," said the Doctor, placing his hands in his pockets, a serious look on his face as he thought of the possibilities of why the TARDIS had taken them to the year 2578 and why things that weren't supposed to happen were happening. Had she picked up a strange energy source that was creating a flux in time and space? Was there something else behind this than the TARDIS? "Any way!" he said, putting on a fake smile which Rose couldn't see through. "Let's get something to eat. I'm starving!"

* * *

 **Oakland, California, USA**

The drive to his wife's house was not too far and so, he was there within ten minutes. He stepped out of the car, seeing that his daughter was already standing there, waiting for him. She had a large smile on her face as she ran over to him, hugging him tightly.

"Hi, daddy," she said before breaking the hug. "Thanks for coming. I really need these."

Tim handed her the keys, smiling at his daughter. "No problem, sweetheart. Anything for you."

His heart warmed at the sight of Avery's smile, her blue eyes sparkling slightly. "When does your shift start?"

"Oh, not yet," said Tim as Avery took his hand, starting to lead him indoors.

"Then stay for a while. Tell me what you've been up to lately," she said as she dragged him into the living room.

Tim was, as always, surprised at how large their living room was. Compared to this living room, his back at home was nothing. They had all the latest things, a comfortable leather couch that barely looked used, a large Weyland-screen on the wall and no already used glasses and empty beer bottles standing on the small side table. Everything looked perfect and neat and for some reason, this made Tim both feel amazed and nauseated. What kind of family house looked this clean?

"I haven't done much lately but work, to be honest," said Tim, sitting down with his daughter on the barely used, leather sofa.

"Fixed a lot of engines?" asked Avery, a smile still on her lips.

"Oh," said a voice from behind Tim, making him and Avery look back at the doorway.

Emily and Richard were standing there, hand in hand. Emily, Tim's "wife", looked rather flustered at the sight of Tim while Richard simply smiled. It looked as though he brought Emily slightly closer to him, almost in a threatening way as to tell Tim that she was hers now, not his. Though the smile on his lips looked sinister and so, it only left Tim confused. He stood up, nodding his head at Emily and Richard.

"Sorry to just burst in here," said Tim, earning a shake of Richard's head.

"No, no, man. You can come in here whenever you want," said Richard, waving Tim's words away with his free hand before he dragged Emily back inside as she had tried to walk away. "I'm taking Avery out to San Francisco today. She wanted to see where I worked."

Tim forced a smile onto his lips, nodding his head. "Sounds like fun." As he looked back at Avery she was looking anywhere but at the three older people in the room, seeming to be feeling uncomfortable with this entire situation. He wondered if she regretted letting him inside the house.

"You want to come?" asked Richard, sounding genuinely kind as he asked it, almost as if he actually wanted him to tag along. Though Tim knew that he was a lawyer and that they were good at lying. He didn't buy his kindness at all.

"No, I have work today," said Tim, earning a nod from Richard.

"Yes, sorry. I forgot," he said, the British accent he had starting to bother Tim.

"Maybe I should go," said Tim. "Again, sorry to intrude."

Avery stood up, wanting to say something but decided against it. "And again, it's okay of you to come around her whenever you want. Especially now that me and Emily are moving in together."

The room went silent as the words seemed to echo against walls the same way as they echoed inside of Tim's head. He was shocked to hear this, seeing as they had only been together for a few months and for some reason, rage appeared inside of Tim's heart. At least, he thought it was rage as it felt much more dark and fiery then jealousy. He caught himself staring at Emily, her eyes going from the floor to him as Richard held an arm around her waist.

"You're moving in together?" asked Tim, not a hundred percent sure as to why he was asking it again as he had heard it quite clearly.

"Yes," said Emily. "I wanted to tell you but you're always so busy-"

"Yes, put the blame on me again," said Tim before sighing at his rash words. Avery was in the room. "Sorry. You know what, I should just go. Work starts soon and-"

"I'll walk you outside," said Emily as Richard walked away towards the kitchen, seeming to have a smirk on his lips though Tim dismissed this.

"Buy, dad," said Avery, her voice soft and her eyes seeming to tinder less than they'd done earlier.

"Love you," said Tim, earning a nod from Avery as she sat down on the sofa again, avoiding eye-contact with Tim.

His heart dropped slightly as he walked away from his daughter, wanting to spend more time with her though knowing that it was impossible at the moment.

"You know I was going to tell you sooner or later. It's just that things have been going too fast lately an-"

"Sorry, Emily," said Tim as the front door closed behind them. "But I honestly don't want any excuses."

Emily just stared at him, her eyes blank and dull. He knew she was fighting back a snappy remark and he felt like he should apologise at the same time as he was proud of having said what he said. He still loved her, but something inside of him just made him despise her sometimes.

"I'll sign those papers for you today," mumbled Tim as he walked to his car, opening the door and sitting down.

She didn't reply, just stared at him with the same blank expression. He scoffed, closing his door and turning the engine on. Through the rear-view mirror, he could see her lips moving as if she was saying something, but the engine made the sound of her voice go silent and he simply drove off, not bothering to ask her what she had said.

* * *

Avery sat in the car, having driven for almost half an hour now in silence. From time to time, Richard would hum a little, though other than that, he hadn't been talking. It wasn't the fact that Richard wasn't her real family or the fact that he tried to take her father's place – as no one could take her father's place -, it was simply the fact that he was who he was. An arrogant man with no sympathy for others. She didn't understand how her mother hadn't seen it yet and wondered if her mother only was with Richard because she wanted to show her father that he was not the only man she could be with.

She hated her mother for that.

"You know," said Richard, breaking the silence after thirty tedious minutes, the car driving to a stop in front of the red lights that were placed near the end of the San Francisco Bridge. "I'm not trying to take your father's place."

He glanced over at her as he had said this but quickly looked back at the road as the traffic lights turned green. Avery looked at him with narrowed eyes. It was almost as if he had read her mind about what she had been thinking about the past thirty minutes.

"I know," she lied.

"It's just that… well, me and your mum," he began, earning an eye-roll from Avery which he didn't see. He was going to have _that_ talk with her. "We like each other a lot. And you're her daughter so… I feel kind of responsible about taking care of you as well."

Avery stared at him for a while, hoping that her eyes didn't show the anger that flared inside of her as he said this. He didn't look at her though, just simply stared at the road ahead of him as he drove towards where he worked.

"Why did you never have kids? With Laura, I mean," said Avery, surprised that her voice didn't sound harsh or angry but more curious.

"I suppose…" said Richard as he parked the car alongside the road. "Those have always been my children."

Avery looked over at where he pointed, seeing a long line of people standing in front of the sky-scraper that was designated to the law and order firm that Richard worked for.

"My clients," he clarified. "Work has always kind of come first for me."

 _You forgot to add; that's why Laura left me._

Avery nodded, keeping her thoughts to herself as Richard exited the car, Avery doing the same.

"You can wait outside," said Richard, surprising Avery.

"I thought I was all-"

"Only people with authorization can go inside," said Richard, straightening his suit, not looking at Avery. "It'll only take an hour or so."

Avery's shoulders slumped as she watched him walk away, a suitcase in his hand and a pride smile on his face as people in the line in front of the building waved at him, seeming to recognize him from either former occasions or from the news.

 _Why did I go with him?_

* * *

 **California Institute of Technology, California, USA**

"This is impossible," said the Professor as he ran towards the computer screens. "Did you check it?"

"Twice," said his colleague. "And then I rebooted the system… and checked it twice again."

"This can't be happening. Not now," said the Professor. "We don't have the technology to stop this yet! We can only see it happening… We gotta evacuate the city."

His secretary nodded, immediately running away in order to call someone that could make the order go through to the city itself.

"We're gonna feel it all the way here, I 'spose," said the colleague, placing a pen against the screen, pointing towards where they were. "It's spreading already. It's not just the city of San Francisco anymore."

"What's causing it?" asked the Professor, more to himself than to anyone else.

"Beats me," said the young man as he took a sip of his coffee. "Maybe something wants out. Maybe the superstitions of the church finally came true. The devil is rising!"

"Stop with your nonsense. This is real life; real people that are in danger," said the Professor, earning a shrug from the other man.

"Just reciting what Erik said, man," said the colleague, before leaning back in his chair.

The Professor ignored the ignorant tone that his colleague had used towards him and focused on the screen instead. Everywhere underneath of San Francisco and all the way up to Oakland and around that area, was shaking with tiny earthquakes. Once that the people living there couldn't feel yet. However, their machines were seeing these earthquakes as the sign that a larger earthquake was going to occur and if that happening right there, a _lot_ would have to be evacuated.

Was there anything they could do?

"Professor!" called a voice from the doorway, causing the stressed, old man to turn towards the sound of the voice. "We… we got a signal."

"A signal?"

"Yes, a signal."

It was one of his media students. His cheeks were flushed from the running he had done and his breath was hitched. There was something about his eyes that made the Professor tense, knowing that what the student wanted to tell him was indeed important…

* * *

 **San Francisco, California, USA**

The Doctor walked with Rose next to him. Although Rose was looking around, seeming to take everything in as if she had never stepped outside before, the Doctor looked serious. He didn't look up at the impressive buildings that stretched high up into the clouds nor did he look at the strangely clothed people that walked past them. Instead, he stared ahead, lost in how own thoughts. That earthquake which he had seen on the news was never meant to happen. It was set in time now, but it wasn't supposed to happen. Something had caused it, and he was intent on finding the reason. After all, that was why the TARDIS had dropped them off there, wasn't it?

The Doctor was so deep in his own thoughts, that he didn't notice a young girl stepping out onto the pavement, looking rather fed up with everything as she stared at the tall building ahead of her. She had come from a car that was parked next to the pavement and she didn't see the Doctor either. Her eyes were on the door that led inside of the building, a massive queue lined up outside of the door with equally fed up people as the young girl.

Rose saw her, though wasn't fast enough in grabbing the Doctor's arm, which made the Doctor walk straight into the young girl, causing her to lose her balance. Her angered expression turned into a horrified one as she realized she was about to fall, though the Doctor's hands snatched the girl's arms, hindering her from falling over.

"I am so sorry," said the Doctor at the baffled girl, her brain still processing what had happened.

"Oh," she said. "That's okay."

Rose looked between the Doctor and the girl, feeling rather awkward as she just stood there, watching her companion talk to the young girl.

"I should've watched where I was going," said the girl, waving it all off with a sweet smile on her lips.

"No, I should. I was up high in my own thoughts-"  
"I was up high in my own thoughts," said the girl and the Doctor at the same time, causing them both to pause their talking for a while.

Although the Doctor talked with a British accent and the young girl talked with an American, their voices had sounded as one and for some reason, this had made the Doctor look at the young girl in a strange way while she simply blushed. The Doctor's look wasn't an unfriendly one, it was a simple, shocked one. Though he recovered quickly, smiling at the young girl.

"I suppose it was both's fault then," said the girl as the Doctor released her.

"Yes, I suppose so," said the Doctor, a huge smile on his face. "Hello, I'm the Doctor and this is Rose."

He reached out his hand towards the young girl which she shook, smiling back at him. "I'm Avery. Nice meeting you. Are you on vacation here?"

The Doctor and Rose looked at Avery for a while, seeming to contemplate what to answer. Avery got nervous by their stares and started explaining why she'd asked what she had asked.

"I mean… the accents and you're not really dressed like all of us an-"

"Yes," said Rose, smiling. "We've always wanted to go to America and here we are!"

"That's nice," said Avery, smiling back at the blonde. "I've always wanted to go to England."

"Avery!" called a man's voice, causing her to turn around, her smile fading as a man walked up to her. "You okay?"

"Yes," she replied, looking back at the Doctor and Rose. "This is… the Doctor and Rose."

"Okay," the man replied, looking them over once before placing a hand on Avery's shoulder. "I'm finished here now. Let's head back home."

"I thought we were going to do some sightseeing? You told dad that-"

"Yes, about that… something's come up. The earthquake from this morning made lots of people want to sue the Californian Institute of Technology for not seeing it coming and they also want to sue Weyland for not coming out with the information earlier and so on… In other words, I have a lot of clients!" said the man, rubbing his hands together.

Rose watched the man, hearing the unsaid words that were said by the man: _Lot's of potential money._

"Sorry," said Rose, making Avery and the man look at her. "You said something about… seeing the earthquake come? But, that's impossible, right?"

The man stared at her for a while, the Doctor simply looking the other way. "Are you daft or something?"

"Oh-I," stuttered Rose.

"Never mind her," said the Doctor, placing himself in between Rose and the other man, who the Doctor already didn't like. "She's just forgotten I suppose."

"Whatever," said the man, placing his hand on Avery's shoulder again. "Come on, let's get going."

Rose and the Doctor watched Avery walk away with the other man. Before she entered the car, she waved at them, smiling an apologetic smile at them which they returned with a small wave of their own.

"I see people haven't improved a lot," said Rose as they continued walking.

"He was one of many," said the Doctor. "Don't pay attention to him."

"What was that all about though, with being able to see when and where an earthquake will happen?" asked Rose.

"Well, it's a technology that kind of already exists in your time though they're still working on it," said the Doctor. "Before an earthquake reaches the level of something that the scientists in your time can see on their computers, the ground gives off a certain vibration that only can be felt by advanced technology. These are below the Richter magnitude scale and can be used to see where the next earthquake is going to hit. If I'm not mistaken… semiologists can also see on what level the earthquake is going to be in this time."

"Right," said Rose, nodding her head. "I understood half of that."

The Doctor grinned at this.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Don't forget to let me know what you thought about the story by commenting!**


	4. Chapter 3, Earthquake

**San Francisco's secret**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Doctor Who, the BBC does. All I own are my own characters and my own plot (except for the part of the plot that's inspired by San Andreas… I don't own that movie either.)

* * *

 **Chapter 3  
Earthquake  
**

 **Oakland airport, California, USA**

"He's already moving in with her?" asked Greg, a dark skinned man who was walking side by side with Tim.

"Yes," Tim replied.

"That's fast," said Greg, shaking his head. "Hey, you know you could've taken some time off, right?"

Tim shrugged, not quite understanding why he would want to do that. After all, working made him think about other things then his issues in life. It also bothered him that Greg thought he had a problem with Emily and Richard moving in together. Yes, he was pissed about it, but that didn't mean that his closest friend had to think of him as weak.

"You wouldn't have made it a day without me," said Tim in a joking way as they stopped in front of one of the many helicopters that was placed on the landing track.

"Hey!" said Greg, sarcastically pouting slightly. "That hurts, man."

Tim forced out a chuckle, trying his best to act normal although he knew that Greg wouldn't buy it for a million quid. At least he might understand that Tim wanted to have a normal day although his family was broken.

"Seriously though," said Greg, making Tim look at him. He sighed slightly as he was prepared for Greg to say something serious about his family-drama. "What do they do with these things!?"

Tim was shocked for a while until his eyes followed Greg's gaze, seeing the engine of the helicopter and letting out a real chuckle this time, a smile gracing his lips. "Beats me," he said, crouching down and taking a closer look on the fried engine.

* * *

 **San Francisco, California, USA**

Avery and Richard drove in silence for five minutes after they had met the Doctor and Rose. The traffic was getting heavy and Richard had to drive slowly. None of them said anything. Avery was rather offended by Richard's way of talking to Rose while Richard most likely was deep in thoughts about his new clients and the money he'd be able to earn from them.

"The earthquake was _that_ bad?" asked Avery, breaking the silence and wanting the tense atmosphere to just go away.

"Yes," said Richard. "The entire Hoover Dam cracked, flooding Hoover City."

"Oh my God," said Avery, her heart fluttering as she thought of the amount of people that had been living in that city, all of which were now either dead or trapped.

Richard didn't reply, instead he kept his gaze on the traffic. It wasn't until the car started to shake that both Avery and Richard looked back at each other again.

* * *

"Doctor," said Rose with a sigh as the Doctor kept on walking, seeming to still be in his own thoughts. "Why don't we just go back and travel to New York like we'd planned?"

"Because there's something wrong," said the Doctor, looking over at Rose who furrowed her brow.

"What do you mean?" asked Rose.

"The Hoover Dam," said the Doctor. "It's not supposed to do that."

"What, crack?" asked Rose. "You've said that before… it's really bugging you that you don't know everything that's gonna happen, isn't it?"

Her voice had sounded amused, though her amused smiled faded as the Doctor gave her a serious look.

"I'm a Time Lord. I can feel when an event is out of place or when an event is flexible; changeable. But this… this is just completely off," said the Doctor.

"What do you reckon caused the earthquake then?" asked Rose.

"I don't know," said the Doctor quietly when suddenly, the ground beneath their feet started to shake, a strange rumbling noise filling the air.

Everyone stopped walking, pausing whatever they were doing as they felt the strange shuddering of the ground. Even the cars stopped moving. Rose looked around herself with worried eyes as the Doctor furrowed his brow, watching every move the people made. Some people grabbed each other, not sure what was going on while some people from the cars stepped out of them. He noticed the man that had been with Avery step out of a car close by them.

Although the Doctor could feel the ground shaking, it didn't feel like an earthquake. It was something else that was making the ground shiver like that. Though what it was, the Doctor didn't quite know.

When the rumbling and the shaking stopped, Rose looked back at the Doctor, some people continuing to walk while others remained where they stood.

"Was that an earthquake?" asked Rose, her eyes wide.

"No," said the Doctor quietly. "It wasn't."

Then, as if on cue with what the Doctor had said, the ground beneath them shifted. Though not in a way that made everyone freeze and wonder what had happened. It shifted in a way that made everyone fall to the ground. Screams erupted throughout the streets of San Francisco as this happened, people falling to the concrete ground.

The Doctor looked around, still placed on the ground. Something inside of him told him that that wasn't the last they were going to feel. "Rose…" he said quietly as she looked over at him, having fallen on her back though luckily not hurt herself.

Before he could continue, the ground started to shake vigorously, not stopping and making it difficult for the people to stand up again. Panic filled the streets and people started to scream.

"Everybody!" called the Doctor over the noise of the earthquake and the noise of the people panicking. "Get to a safe place!"

The Doctor stood up, helping Rose up as well. "What is safe? The TARDIS?"

With wide eyes, the Doctor looked around, watching the huge skyscrapers wobble and move as the ground shook beneath them. Streetlamps were starting to fall, the concrete cracking under several cars which caused several cars to flip and some to slide down the crack. Holding a tight grip on Rose's hand, he ran towards the wall of one of the skyscrapers.

"Find a stable wall and press yourself against it," said the Doctor, reciting something he'd read once to Rose before yelling it at the people who ran by, none of them noticing him as they were too panicked.

Suddenly, broken glass started to fall down, landing in front of the two of them, some of it falling on the people running past them.

"What's happening!?" called Rose, her hands holding a tight grip on the Doctor's coat.

"The skyscrapers," said the Doctor. "They're not built to withstand such a massive earthquake!"

"Oh my God," said Rose, keeping her back pressed against the wall.

Beside her face, the wall started to crack, crumbles of concrete falling down on them from above.

* * *

 **Oakland airport, California, USA**

"Shit!" called Greg as he was thrown to the ground, the ground underneath his feet suddenly shifting.

Tim, looked back at Greg, having fallen over in the seat of the helicopter. "The hell was what!?"

"How should I know!" called Greg back as he stood up, his hands bloody from having scraped against the concrete ground beneath him.

Tim placed himself in the seat of the helicopter, looking out over the landing area. Every single person that was there had fallen over, some of them still on the ground. He looked out over the sea that was placed next to the airport, seeing the water starting to become more and more angry.

"Was that a… an earthquake?" asked Tim, earning a chuckle from Tim.

"Bro, have you ever been in an earthquake?" asked Greg, shaking his head. "That was nothing like an earthquake."

"No…" said Tim, narrowing his eyes as a strange, black line started to appear at the other end of the airport, people running away from it. "It wasn't an earthquake."

Greg eyed him suspiciously as Tim continued to stare at the black line far off. It was getting closer and closer, people still running away from it. And as it got closer, Tim could clearly see that it was a crack in the concrete that was coming their way. The helicopter started to shudder the closer the crack came to them.

"Greg… Greg, get inside," said Tim, an impulse idea suddenly striking him. "Damn it, Greg! Get your ass in here!"

"Alright, alright. I'm on my way," said Greg as he jumped up into the helicopter.

Tim immediately dove underneath the dashboard where he had been earlier, trying to find the cable he had been working on. The helicopter shook more and more and it was starting to get hard for him to see anything clearly. The fact that his hands were shaking from the adrenaline that filled his body wasn't helping him find the red cable.

"Shit, Tim!" said Greg as he sat down in the other seat at the front. "It _is_ an earthquake!"

As he found the cable he had been looking for, he quickly grabbed a pocketknife from his jacket, opening the cable up so that he was holding the bare, copper cable in his fingers. He slowly, and carefully placed it against another, bare wire, causing a spark to come from it, burning the top of his fingers though Tim didn't feel this as his veins pumped with adrenaline.

"Tim!" called Greg as the engine of the helicopter started. "The crack!"

"Get us out of here!" said Tim as he made his way from underneath the dashboard. "Now!"

Greg quickly started to push multiple buttons, igniting the take-off program while Tim dashed to the back, closing the door before jumped back to the front, watching the crack come closer and closer… until it was underneath of them.

"Okay… let's go," said Greg, placing his hands on the steering lever as the crack opened up beneath them. He seemed calm as he slowly and steadily lifted the helicopter from the ground.

"Hurry up!" called Tim, his entire body shaking.

"I'm trying, man!" snapped Greg, his eyes widening as he saw the large gap that would've consumed them had it not been for Greg being able to fly the helicopter. "Shit… alright, I'm hurrying up."

Greg lifted them up into the air, the engine barely making any sound except for a strange coughing noise from time to time. Tim assumed that this sound was because they still had to fix the rest of the engine, though he wasn't sure.

"Shit…" said Greg quietly, the ground beneath them far away though not far away enough for them to not see the massive crack that had appeared out of nowhere.

Water forced its way into the crack and had it been on a screen and made by a computer for a two hours catastrophe-movie, then Tim would've thought it was beautiful; the way the water flowed gracefully towards the end of the crack, spilling only slightly over the edges.

"What do we do? What do we do, man?" asked Greg as they both stared down at the water, the helicopter flying over it slowly.

"I don't know… I honestly don't know," said Tim quietly, glancing at Greg and seeing his wide eyes. Apart from the eyes, he looked completely calm whereas Tim was shaking still.

"Family," said Greg, looking over at Tim. "That's our priority now."

Tim nodded. "Yours is closer. Go there first."

* * *

 **San Francisco, California, USA**

The ground had stopped shaking, but the buildings didn't stop moving. Pieces of the roofs were coming down, landing on the cracked pavements and streets of San Francisco. Fires were lit everywhere coming from explosions and hit cars while water burst out of the water pipes that had been broken underneath the streets or inside of buildings. Some people lay still on the pavement, both willingly and unwillingly, while others ran.

"We need to get out of here!" exclaimed the Doctor, Rose nodding, a lump forming in her throat from the fear she was feeling. This was no alien, this was no spacecraft. This was a natural disaster and Rose was scared that the Doctor couldn't do much to keep the both of them safe.

Though, the Doctor could indeed not do anything about a normal nature disaster, he himself doubted that it was anything like that. It had not felt like something natural, it had felt as though someone had shaken the ground on purpose.

"Someone! Help!"

Amongst the sounds of multiple people screaming for help, there was one voice that caused the Doctor to freeze. His hand held Rose's hand and she looked at him strangely as he stopped moving towards where the TARDIS was parked. The voice sent chills down his spine and there was something about the cry of help that made both his hearts skip a beat. It sounded familiar, like something he had heard during a certain war… The Time War.

He turned towards the source of the voice, seeing nothing but people running around and upturned cars. Rose tugged at his hand: "Come on."

"Wait," he said absentmindedly.

"Help me!" the voice screamed again, this time the Doctor saw the source and he immediately started running towards it, dragging Rose with him.

In the middle of the street, amongst many turned over cars and a crack in the concrete, a car lay turned around on its back. A large chunk of a nearby skyscraper had fallen on top of it, almost crushing the entire car. Though, not completely. Inside, the girl from earlier was trapped, hitting her palms against the window that, surprisingly so, was still intact. Her palms left small, pink stains on the window.

On his way towards the car, the Doctor bumped into the man from earlier who had been rather unfriendly towards Rose. His eyes were wide though he didn't look back at Avery, instead he stared straight at the Doctor before continuing to run… away from Avery.

"Avery!" called the Doctor as he stopped in front of the car, stepping over the crack in the concrete.

Rose crouched down, placing a hand on the window as panic filled her. The girl had been kind to her and she couldn't have been much older than herself. She couldn't even imagine the panic she would've been in if she had been trapped in that car, being left by the one person she travelled with just like Avery had been just now.

"Don't worry! We're going to get you out of there," said the Doctor, taking out his sonic screwdriver from his pocket and aiming it at the window.

"What are you doing!? Just hit it!" said Rose, taking a rock from the ground and smashing the window with the stone.

It only dented it.

"Oi! I'm working on it," said the Doctor, looking over at Rose with an offended look.

"Yeah? Well, you're too slow," said Rose before thrusting the rock against the window again.

The Doctor rolled his eyes before continuing to sonic the window, hoping to find the correct level to make the window break. Though it was hard with Rose constantly hitting it.

"Jeez," said Rose, panting as she looked at the dented window. "Kick a football and it breaks a window without you wanting it… save a life and the freaking thing doesn't break!"

"You got a football?" asked the Doctor sarcastically before the ground suddenly shook again.

Although the quake was less harsh than the last one and didn't last as long, both saviours fell backwards on their butts, Rose losing the rock in her hand which fell down the crack that was located right behind her. It was too tight for anyone to fall through, but the rock fit… and so did the sonic screwdriver.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" said the Doctor as he looked down the crack, hoping that it wasn't as deep as he assumed it was.

Though it was. The bottom couldn't even be seen and his shoulders slumped, a sigh escaping his lips. However, something caught his eye. A strange light emanated from the very bottom of the pit, making the Doctor narrow his eyes.

"Doctor!" called Rose, her eyes widening as the chunk of concrete that was on top of the car sunk deeper down, crushing the window that they had been working on and making Avery push herself against the ground, a cry escaping her.

As the Doctor turned around, Rose darted forwards, grabbing Avery's hand which placed herself partly inside the car as well. "Are you hurt?" she asked as he looked at her.

"I'm stuck!" she called, her voice wavering as she spoke. "He left me…"

"Where are you stuck, Avery!?" called the Doctor, leaning down in order to see inside the car.

"My leg is stuck," said Avery as the Doctor stood up and rounded the car, looking inside from the other side.

The piece of concrete was pushing down the car's roof so that the roof was pushing the seats down towards Avery. One of the seats, the one she presumably had been seated on, was pushing against her right leg, making her incapable of moving without hurting herself.

"He left me…" she said again, her other hand reaching out for Rose's hand and holding her single hand with the both of her hers, looking as though her life depended on her not letting go of Rose's hand.

"It's okay, we're here now," said Rose, finding herself thinking of how lucky Avery was that the Doctor had heard her of all the people that were calling out for help though she also wondered why and how he had heard her. Rose hadn't, not until they had run past the man that Avery's had travelled with.

"Avery!" called the Doctor from the other side of the car. "I'm going to lift this, alright? The moment you feel you can move: move."

Avery nodded though realized that the Doctor couldn't see her and shouted a "yes!" before she closed her eyes, afraid that pain would start coming soon.

The Doctor wasted no time in starting to lift the concrete piece, though didn't manage to lift it much, not until Rose came and helped him. It shifted a few centimetres and Avery started to move her foot slightly. But, another quake came and the Doctor and Rose were thrust to the ground again, both of them letting go of the piece of concrete.

A muffled scream was heard from the car as the quake stopped.

"Are these after quakes?" asked Rose as she stood up again.

"Something like that," said the Doctor as he quickly made his way to Avery again. "You alright?"

"It hurts!" called Avery.

The Doctor looked at the place where her leg was and realized she must have moved slightly when they had lifted the rock. When the concrete was put back down again, thanks to them falling over, the piece started to put pressure on the leg differently and it may just be pushing against her leg now, like it didn't do earlier.

"We need to get her out of there," said Rose as she looked around at the slightly emptier streets. The buildings were still moving around, even though they had stopped slightly, and she felt rather unsafe, wanting to return back to the TARDIS as soon as possible.

"Don't leave me," said Avery, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"We are _not_ leaving you," said the Doctor, crouching down so he could look her in the eyes. "You hear me?"

Avery nodded.

"There has to be something that we can use to lift this up!" said Rose, putting one hand in her hair and scrunching some up in her hand in a frustrated way.

The Doctor looked at Rose, looking around them. He felt panicked. This was a life that was about to be killed. The car wouldn't hold the weight of the concrete forever and she would be crushed soon. Not to mention that the buildings around them were still not very stable and they could collapse any second.

But, he didn't know what to do.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Don't forget to let me know what you thought about the story by commenting!**


	5. Chapter 4, The Signal

**San Francisco's secret**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Doctor Who, the BBC does. All I own are my own characters and my own plot (except for the part of the plot that's inspired by San Andreas… I don't own that movie either.)

* * *

 **Chapter 4  
The Signal**

 **Californian Institute of Technology, California, USA**

"That was an eight point two quake that San Francisco was just hit with!" exclaimed the Professor as he slid out from underneath the table him and his colleague has been taking cover under during the shaking. Although they hadn't had it as badly as San Francisco, it had still been quite a shaky experience.

"Sir!" called the student from earlier, called Danny. "The transmission is getting louder."

"What does it sound like now?" asked the Professor, walking over to the young boy as he sat on a black chair, headphones on.

"Like… Like mumbling. Voices talking," said the student, scrunching up his face in confusion. "An earthquake doesn't talk, does it?"

"No," said the Professor, frowning. "It indeed doesn't."

* * *

 **San Francisco, California, USA**

The Doctor and Rose stood in front of the car, knowing that they wouldn't be able to lift the chunk of concrete for long enough to be able to let Avery out.

"Use this," said a man's voice from behind them.

Quickly, they both turned around, seeing a man and a woman standing there, both being in their late forties. The man had ginger hair and a moustache, dirt covering his face and hair which made the ginger colour hard to see. The woman was short dark hair and she was also covered in the same dust as the man though part of her face was clad in a streak of red. Blood.

In the man's hands, a car jack lay. Although, this was not what Rose would've called it as it looked nothing like a jack to her. Though, she came to realize what it was the moment the Doctor grabbed the jack and placed it underneath the concrete, starting to pump it up so that the concrete lifted. Avery crawled out from underneath the concrete, Rose running to the other side of the car to meet her, and the girl smiled as Rose helped her up.

On the other side, the Doctor took the car jack in his hands again, handing it back to the people who had given it to him.

"Thanks," he said as the man took it from him again.

"No problem," said the man. "Those after shakes… They're not over yet."

"What makes you say that?" asked the Doctor, furrowing his brow in curiosity.

"My wife," said the man, turning back to the woman that was standing a little ways behind him. "She received a strange transmission before the earthquake. The signal hasn't gone away yet."

"What kind of signal?" asked the Doctor to which the man simply shrugged.

"Sounded like static and… mumbling to me," said the man as the woman walked over to stand next to him.

"Like people talking to each other, debriefing each other of what they're doing," said the woman. "I work for Weyland-network, by the way. That's how I got the signal through."

"You sure it's not just the police radio?" asked Avery as she and Rose came to join them.

"No," said the woman, shaking her head. "That wasn't English they were talking."

"A foreign language?" asked the Doctor, his eyebrows furrowed.

The man and wife looked at each other before shaking their heads. "It was… different."

"Alien?" asked Rose, earning a look from the man and woman who silently nodded.

"We haven't had a visit from an alien species in years now," said Avery.

"Sorry, but we need to move on," said the man. "Our son's down here somewhere, waiting for us."

"Of course. Good luck," said the Doctor, the three of them following the man and wife with their gazes before they all looked at each other again.

"It wasn't an earthquake, was it?" asked Rose, earning a look from the Doctor.

"Most certainly not. I knew the TARDIS wouldn't just place us somewhere completely random without a meaning to it," said the Doctor seriously.

"That has happened though," said Rose, earning a look from the Doctor.

"Sometimes she does it on purpose just to annoy me," said the Doctor, sounding rather grumpy when he said this, before he shook his head. "Anyway, that's not the point. The point is that there is a signal somewhere which I want to hear."

"Sorry," said Avery as the Doctor was about to walk away. "But… who exactly are you?"

"I'm the Doctor and this is Rose," replied the Doctor, unsure of what she meant.

"Well, I know that," said Avery. "But the way you talk… it's different. It's not just the accents it's… everything. You talk," she said, pointing at Rose, "like they do on old movies… I mean, the last time I've ever heard a British accent like that was on a movie from the year 2360! And you… well, you just seem… odd."

"Oh, but odd is good!" said the Doctor, grinning at Avery. "Now, this is of course your choice, so I won't force you. _But,_ you can come with us. Go and see why this is all happening."

Avery stared at him as if he had three heads. "You realize that there are thousands of people dead, right? And you wanna go explore?"

"Yeah," said the Doctor shrugging before growing serious. "Look, these earthquakes, they're not supposed to happen and… they're not even earthquakes. In fact," he said as he jumped up and down on the ground, earning a strange look from Avery and Rose. "It feels as though someone is drilling upwards, to the surface."

"What? Why? And who?" asked Avery, earning an amused look from the Doctor.

"That's what we're about to find out," he said, stretching out his hand to her.

She looked at it a few seconds before hesitantly grabbing his hand, earning a grin from the Doctor to which Avery couldn't help but smile back at.

* * *

 **Oakland, California, USA**

"You okay?" asked Tim, his hands holding onto the steering wheel of the helicopter as he glanced at Greg, his best friend.

Not too long ago, they had flown over the small estate where Greg's family lived. He had, no more than two years ago, gotten a little baby girl and now, their entire house lay in a heap, collapsed, on the ground. They had searched, but found no sign of them either alive or dead. Now, Greg was sitting in the front, just staring out through the window.

"Hey, mate? You okay?" asked Tim, waving his hand in front of Greg's face slightly.

He glanced at Tim, his eyes monotone. "They're dead."

"We don't know that," assured Tim, his stomach twisting as he said these words as he didn't believe them himself.

"We do," he said quietly.

"Okay, look. We need to focus right now, alright? There are more people out there. My daughter and my wife. We need to focus on them. Can you do that? Just like I focused for your family? Just one more time, man. That's all I'm asking. Afterwards, you can mourn as much as you want. But right now, I need my best mate," said Tim.

For a while, the inside of the helicopter was silent as Greg took in the words that Tim had said. He hoped Greg would take them good. After all, he needed Greg if he was going to make it to Emily's house. After all, he didn't know how to land the helicopter.

"Yeah," said Greg suddenly, his eyes coming back to life as he grabbed the steering wheel that was positioned in front of his seat. "You're right."

* * *

 **San Francisco, California, USA**

"Where are we going?" asked Rose, the three of them running down the streets as best as they could.

People were now walking down the streets, seeming to have calmed down after the earthquake. Helicopters, strange helicopters according to Rose as they looked nothing like those in her time, were flying over the city, some helping a few people who were in danger up on the rooftops while some of them simply checked on what kind of damage had been done to the city. The Doctor, Rose and Avery were running past the hurt and shaken people, a determined look on the Doctor's face while Rose and Avery simply looked confused, not sure of where they were going.

"Doctor!" called Rose as they ran. "Where are we going!?"

"Back to the TARDIS! I need to scan the planet!" he called back to them, not looking back but just continuing to run like nothing had been said.

However, he suddenly stopped quite abruptly, his eyes scanning the alley they had left the TARDIS in. It was dark now, smoke rising up from it as the two buildings that had been next to his ship had collapsed in on themselves, causing huge chunks of the building to fall down in the alley. The ship was nowhere to be seen, most likely buried beneath the parts of the building.

"Doctor?" asked Rose quietly, not believing her eyes as she looked inside of the alley. "Where's the TARDIS? Doctor?"

"She's... she's been buried… she's in there somewhere," said the Doctor, causing Avery to look at him with sympathetic eyes, hearing the despair that clung to his voice as he talked. "She's gone…"

"No, she can't be," said Rose, panic filling her voice.

"What kind of ship was it?" asked Avery quietly, though no one replied.

"She's there, underneath all of that. She can't have survived that," said the Doctor, shaking his head as he tried to focus on the now, shoving the hurt and despair he was feeling aside as he focused on what was happening there. "I still need to scan the planet. There's something going on. Those earthquakes weren't earthquakes. They were the aftermath of someone drilling upwards from underneath the surface. Though who and why?"

Rose nodded while Avery simply looked at him, feeling rather sceptical about whether or not she should continue to follow them. They talked strangely, not because of their accents, but because of the words they used. The man seemed to talk with intelligent words, words she'd never heard of or that simply sounded so much more intelligent when they came out of his mouth. His eyes looked old, like his soul was older than the skin that graced his features. Something about him made it seem like he was a man that could not stay in one place for too long; a man who, instead of waiting, would travel somewhere else and return when the time came for his wait to be over. And he also seemed strange. Though, strange in a good way. Every word he said sounded trustworthy and something inside of Avery made her put her entire faith in him. And then there was that other feeling inside of her that seemed to grow each time she looked at him. A feeling that burned inside of her, though without hurting her. It didn't warm her but instead, it confused her. It felt a lot like when you know the name for something but your brain can't find the correct word, like it was buried deep within her or being hidden away from her. He felt oddly familiar to her as well.

Rose on the other hand seemed to be like Avery, confused yet trying to comprehend the situation as best as she could. She was kind, though at the same time, her personality seemed to have an edge to it which spiked Avery's interest in the young woman. Not to mention that she seemed to be around Avery's age, which meant that she felt a little more comfortable around her as she might understand her a bit more. Although all of this was quite horrendous, Rose seemed to be quite excited and, now that Avery thought about it, so did the Doctor. They were adventurous and Avery was drawn to those kind of people. Not because she herself was a very brave or adventurous person that tried things out herself first, but because she longed for an adventure in her life, one that she would be brave enough to go on.

"Avery," said the Doctor, suddenly turning to her again, his eyes wide and a stressed yet serious look on his face. "Have you got any idea of where I could be able to scan at least a few yards down the surface of the Earth?"

"Well… no," replied Avery, earning a sigh from the Doctor as he looked away again. "But if you want answers about the earthquake, I'm sure professor Utah down in the Californian Institute of Technology could help. He's the best and closest semiologist there is at the moment. He managed to save millions of lives by predicting a huge earthquake over in New Japan."

"Hold on," said Rose, taking a step towards Avery. " _New_ Japan?"

It was questions like these that made Avery question if Rose had never been outside of her house before that day. At first, she didn't even know that one could predict earthquakes and now she didn't even know the second biggest city in the world, New Japan.

"Yes… New Japan," replied Avery, furrowing her brow slightly. She was about to ask them why this confused them when the Doctor cut her off.

"You know the way there?" asked the Doctor, referring to the Professor.

"Yes… But we're going to need some form of transport," said Avery. "It's too far to walk."

"I would use the TARDIS… but she's gone," said the Doctor, his eyes saddening.

Avery walked over to him and grabbed his hand. It was an action which just kind of happened. She didn't think about it but instead, it felt natural to her to do this. The Doctor, looked at her, his eyes searching her blue eyes.

"Sorry," she said before letting go of her hand.

"Can we take a car?" asked Rose, looking between the Doctor and Avery, not being able to push aside the twitch of jealousy she felt at the look on the Doctor's face.

"I don't know how to drive yet," said Avery, shaking her head.

"I reckon I can drive a car… but not a car like that," said Rose, looking at the Doctor who puffed out his cheeks.

"Can't be that hard," said the Doctor walking over to one of the parked cars next to the pavement, one of the few that seemed to still be intact.

He opened the car door, placing himself in front of the wheel. His eyes searched the panels, his hands gripping the wheel. "This is odd… Time Lords never drove _cars_. It feels so… primitive."

"Oi!" exclaimed Rose as she sat down in the seat next to him, giving him an amused glare.

"Time- what?" asked Avery, placing herself in the seat behind the Doctor. She felt a tug of panic as she sat down in a car again, the memories of the piece of concrete falling on top of her still fresh in her mind, her leg starting to ache because of the memories.

"Alright, everyone aboard?" asked the Doctor, ignoring Avery's question. He pressed the ignition button, turning the engine on as Avery closed her car door, putting on her belt.

"You sure you can drive one of these?" asked Avery, giving him a sceptical look through the rear-view mirror.

"Of course! Piece of cake!" said the Doctor, his eyes looking down at the pedals before looking back at the wheel. "Talking about cake… never got to go eat somewhere, did we?"

Rose shook her head, laughing quietly.

"You need to go left here," said Avery, pointing to where the Doctor was supposed to drive.

"Alright… Here we go," said the Doctor, revving the engine as he pressed his foot on the gas pedal. "Allons-y!"

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Don't forget to let me know what you thought about the story by commenting!**


	6. Chapter 5, The Watch

**San Francisco's secret**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Doctor Who, the BBC does. All I own are my own characters and my own plot (except for the part of the plot that's inspired by San Andreas… I don't own that movie either.)

* * *

 **Chapter 5  
The Watch**

 **Oakland, California, USA**

The helicopter flew over the small field that existed behind the house of Emily; Tim's wife. Greg was steering the helicopter again, seeming to have calmed down quite a lot. Slowly, he let the helicopter touch the ground outside of the house on the space where Tim had parked his car earlier that morning. The house didn't seem to have been as damaged as the airport bu the earthquake which made Tim feel rather relieved. Although Emily was no longer his wife, he still cared for her and wanted her to be alright. In fact, he'd still do anything for her.

The moment the sound of the engine started to die down, Tim jumped out of the chopper, running up to the house and opening the door.

"Emily!" called Erik, running into the living room and finding it shaken and not at all as he had left it that morning.

Everything had been thrown around after the earthquake and the once tidy and professional looking room, now looked more like his own house; messed up and dirty. The ceiling had cracked slightly which had caused dust to fall down on the clean sofa that Emily owned. The tables had been thrown around, chairs knocked over and the Weyland screen had fallen to the floor, having shattered on impact.

"Richard!" called Emily, Erik's heart falling down into his stomach. Though he braced himself as Emily came running into the living room, her worried look disappearing and a relieved look replacing it. "Oh my God, Erik!"

She threw her arms around his neck, Tim stiffly returning the hug by placing his hands on her waist, making sure that his body wasn't too close to hers.

"Look at you…" whispered Emily as she pulled back, placing her hands on his cheeks. "You came for me."

"We need to leave, find Avery," said Tim, pulling his face out of her grip to which her smile faltered slightly.

"Yes," she simply said before suddenly running away, back into the house.

"Em!" called Tim with a frustrated sigh. "She could be hurt!"

"Just-" said Emily, the sound of glass breaking interfering her sentence. "Just give me sec!"

Tim rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. Suddenly, a strange feeling appeared inside of him, almost knocking him down to the floor. It felt as though his brain suddenly realized what was going on. An earthquake had just happened. An earthquake which no one had known off. An earthquake that had been strong enough to rip apart the concrete of the airport. If it was strong enough to do that, what could it have done to San Francisco? What could it have done to Avery?

* * *

 **San Francisco, California, USA**

Avery grimaced, a sudden pain appearing in her leg. She looked down at it as the Doctor drove towards the last junction before they would exit San Francisco. He was talking to Rose about the things he'd lost. His sonic screwdriver, his ship… At the same time, he was driving on the road like a maniac. Not because he barely knew how to drive the car, but because there were so many broken cars on the roads, either flipped over or simply standing there; abandoned, that the Doctor couldn't possibly drive in a straight line. There were cracks in the road as well which the Doctor had to avoid driving over and the entire drive was making Avery rather sick. Although, she fought against it, not wanting to be annoying to the two strange people she had just met.

As she retrieved her hand from her leg, she saw a faint, pink colour graze her fingertips. She had hurt herself. Although, there didn't seem to be much blood and she could hide it from the Doctor and Rose since her jeans were a dark colour. Blood wouldn't show up on dark clothes as much as on lighter clothes.

Her eyes looked at the back of the Doctor's head, her eyebrows furrowing as Rose laughed at something the Doctor said. They seemed rather calm even though they had just lost their ship…

Suddenly, something clicked inside of Avery. They had a _ship_. They talked strangely and the Doctor had a very strange name, something she had thought about questioning before. After all, everything was accepted and it was strange to think twice about what a person was wearing or why the person had that name nowadays. But now, now that she saw the light mood they were in and the taste of adventure that they seemed to be in, Avery realized that they weren't behaving as normal human beings.

"Who are you people?" she asked, causing the both of them to quieten down. "I mean… You have a ship? And your name… the Doctor? Doctor who?"

"AH!" said the Doctor as he turned the car abruptly, avoiding to drive over a crack again. "I knew she'd start asking that sooner or later. They all do. I'm surprised you haven't asked earlier."

"Been kinda busy," scoffed Avery. "With being stuck in a car and surviving a freak earthquake… which you two seem to not be bothered by!"

"Oh, no. We are bothered," said Rose, turning her head to look at Avery. "It's just that… well, the earthquake's over, right?"

"Well… yes," said Avery, shocked by her words. "But think of all the people that are out there, hurt and scared… trapped or dead… think about there family their parents… their loved ones."

Rose looked away, the smile wiped away from her lips.

"You're absolutely right, Avery," said the Doctor with a serious tone to his voice. "There are a lot of people dead… hurt and trapped… And who knows how big the earthquake was. Maybe we weren't the only ones who felt it. But we have to think about the future. We have to help the ones that still need helping. The survivors. If we don't focus on them, they'll die as well."

Avery looked out through the window, his words making sense to her though not making up for the fact that they had been laughing during a time like this. Not to mention that his words stung her as she suddenly realized that her parents might have felt the earthquake as well. Or worse, the earthquake was even worse over in Oakland and they were all dead. She had no way of communicating with them as her communicator had been crushed in the car.

"My parents are out there," said Avery, biting her lip as tears threatened to come up into her eyes.

"I'm sure they're alright," said Rose, glancing back at here again.

Avery shook her head as she kept her gaze on the outside world as it passed them by. The last junction in San Francisco was passed and they were on their way out of the city. However, something happened. Something that caused the Doctor to stop the car immediately and jump out of it.

As they crossed the last junction, the sky-scrapers that they had passed started to wobble again. One of them started to collapse, glass shattering and pieces of concrete falling down again.

"Shit…" said Avery silently as she and Rose exited the car as well, joining the Doctor in looking back at the city.

The sound of the building falling down against one other building, causing half of the other buildings to fall apart as well, was deafening and Avery placed her hands over her ears. A puff of air was thrown their way, filled with dust and sand, making the three of them turn away, shielding their faces from the wind. As the wind died down, they looked back. Screams from people were heard and a low rumbling in the ground was felt. The Doctor immediately dropped down to his knees, pressing his ear to the asphalt road.

"All those people," said Rose quietly as she grasped Avery's arm, pressing herself against the other woman. "Oh my God…"

"Well," said the Doctor as he jumped back up again. "I was right. The TARDIS did indeed bring us here for a reason. It was indeed no earthquake and the TARDIS must have felt it. My former theory of someone drilling their way up to the surface is now not only a theory, but it's the only possible explanation to the earthquake. I could feel it, you lot can't because you haven't lived long enough yet. But there's a difference between the ground moving, and the ground complaining. Something's drilling their way up. _Fast._ I just heard it."

"What?" asked Avery, dropping down to her knees as well, bringing Rose with her. She pressed her ear to the asphalt just like the Doctor had and narrowed her eyes as she listened though heard nothing. "I hear nothing."

She looked up at the Doctor as she said this and his only reply was to crouch down next to her, Rose pressing her ear to the ground as well. He placed a hand over her other ear, his eyes serious as he looked her deep in the eyes.

"Focus on the sounds… the vibrations," he said, his thumb brushing away some loose strands of her hair while the rest of his palm made sure that no other sound came through to her other ear. His hand felt cold against her ear though she didn't mind. She herself was sweating from everything that was happening after all. "Can you hear it? The sound of metal against metal? The vibrations of something moving?"

Avery narrowed her eyes again, her eyes averting to the Doctor's white shoes who now were stained with dirt. At first, all she heard was the sound of her heart pushing blood out into her veins. But then, something changed. Her eyelids closed and all her focus went to her left ear, the one that was pressed against the ground. She could hear something. Sounds of feet running far off, bouncing against the ground. And then, it went further down, her focus. And she could hear the sound of something moving, something digging its way up to the surface. It sounded distant, though it was there.

"I can't hear anything, Doctor," said Rose, breaking her focus.

Avery opened her eyes again, seeing the Doctor looking down at her with shocked eyes, his thumb still brushing against her cheeks.

"Well," said the Doctor, tearing his gaze away from Avery. "That's not very surprising. Human ears aren't advanced enough. Don't have to be either with the technology you lot have to survive."

Avery sat up, brushing away some of the dirt that had plastered itself onto her sweaty cheek after having pressed half her face against the ground.

Rose shrugged, standing up and helping Avery up as well. Though she winced, and the Doctor and Rose both immediately looked at her with worried eyes.

"I'm fine," said Avery, waving their worried looks away. "My leg's a bit sore, that's all."

"Let me have a look," said the Doctor, not caring about her protests as he crouched down in front of her, placing his hands on her upper leg where the pain was.

She winced as he touched the spot where it hurt. It felt like someone was pulling a nail through her upper muscles each time she moved, though she was certain that the wound was no deeper than a flesh wound. When the Doctor retrieved his hands, he found them soaked in blood.

"You're hurt," said the Doctor, earning a look from Rose. "You shouldn't be leaning on that leg. In fact, you should be getting medical attention."

"I'm fine, really," said Avery, waving him off as he stood up again.

"It's a flesh wound… but a nasty one. The skin must have burst open as the concrete crushed your leg. Don't move it too much," he said, pointing a finger at him.

"Yes, _sir_ ," said Avery quietly as he walked back to the car, Rose gesturing for her to follow them again.

"Which way now?" asked the Doctor, making Avery point forwards.

"Keep going for a few miles," said Avery. "Then turn right."

* * *

 **Oakland, California, USA**

"Come on," said Greg as Emily and Tim walked out of the house.

Emily had run off to Avery's room earlier, grabbing a few things such as extra shirts and some of her daughter's dearest belongings, before placing them in a bag along with some supplies; food mostly.

"Em had to grab some stuff," said Tim.

"And Avery?" asked Greg.

He was seated in the helicopter, the door opened as he leaned out of it, his legs dangling over the edge.

"She's not answering," said Tim, a bitter tone to his voice.

"She's not at home?" asked Greg with a sigh.

"No," said Emily. "Richard took her to San Francisco."

"Right," said Greg, looking at Tim as he passed him by while climbing into the chopper. "San Francisco it is then."

"The earthquake hit there as well?" asked Emily as Greg helped her inside the helicopter.

"No idea," said Greg. "Let's hope not… Though, if it did, I'm sure Avery survived. She's a tough kid."

Greg moved to his seat in the front again, earning a nod from Emily before she sat down in the back, her hands holding a tight grip on the bag, trying to calm herself down as her entire body shook with fear and worry for her daughter.

"I should have never let her go," she whispered to herself as Tim passed her to sit down in the front with Greg. He looked at her, having heard what she had whispered, but decided against saying anything to her. After all, it might only make it worse. Just like it did back when…

Tim stopped thinking about it the moment it popped up into his mind. He did not want to remember that now. He had to focus on finding Avery, his daughter that was still alive. The one he could still save unlike…

He shook his head again, placing two fingers on the brig of his nose as Greg steered the helicopter back in the air again.

"I brought it," said Emily's voice after a couple of minutes of pure silence in the helicopter.

Her voice sounded sad and tired which made Tim realize what she was talking about immediately.

"I couldn't just leave it, now could I," said Emily as Tim turned to look at her. She had the open bag clutched in her arms, an item resting in her hands. Her eyes were filled with tears as she looked down at the item. "It's my daughter… she has to be my daughter. We raised her!"

Tim glanced at Greg who gave him a confused look. Quickly, Tim unstrapped himself from the seat and walked back to sit in front of Emily. He never looked at the item, not being able to do so as it still hurt.

"Look at me," said Tim, Emily's eyes slowly finding his gaze. "She's our daughter," he whispered. "Of course you couldn't leave it. We made a promise… A promise to keep our daughter save. And without that… With that destroyed… she wouldn't be save."

Emily nodded before she placed the small item against her chest, hugging it as tears fell down her cheeks. The cool metal felt chilly against her skin, but there was something about the item that made it feel as if she wasn't alone. As if someone was hugging her back. Someone invisible.

Tim unfolded her hands, looking at the item she had been hugging. He placed a hand on the small watch with the strange symbols on it, closing his eyes as he heard the familiar words he always heard whenever he did so.

 _Don't open me yet._

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Don't forget to let me know what you thought about the story by commenting!**


	7. Chapter 6, Wounds and scientists

**San Francisco's secret**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Doctor Who, the BBC does. All I own are my own characters and my own plot (except for the part of the plot that's inspired by San Andreas… I don't own that movie either.)

* * *

 **Chapter 6  
Wounds and scientists**

 **A few miles outside of San Francisco, California, USA**

The Doctor, Rose and Avery drove on in silence. Both Rose and Avery simply looked out at the trees, the houses and the fields that passed them by while the Doctor was deep in thought. His eyes were on the road, though his mind was busy with thinking of all possible options that could answer the question of what was going on. Although the drilling had come from underneath San Francisco, the "earthquake" had done damage even outside of the city. Even as he drove several miles outside of the city, he still had to be careful as to where he was driving. There were cracks in the ground even there, trees had fallen down and cars had swivelled to a stop, either crashing or flipping over in odd positions. He dreaded each time they had to pass a car that had crashed, as sometimes people would be stuck in there either dead or unconscious. None of these people were supposed to have this happening in their lives and it angered him. But not only had that angered him, the fact that he had lost the TARDIS and his sonic screwdriver in one day angered him as well.

He glanced over at Rose, seeing her stare out through the window. Neither of them had really had any time to think about the fact that the only way for Rose to get back to her time and her home, was if they had the TARDIS. But they didn't have the TARDIS. It was long gone by now.

"I'm sorry," said the Doctor, his eyes back on the road as Rose glanced at him.

"For what?" asked Rose.

"You're stuck here now," said the Doctor.

Rose looked away, the thought not having crossed her mind yet. Her mind had been caught up with the things that had been happening; the earthquake - that according to the Doctor hadn't been an earthquake -, her and the Doctor helping Avery out from under the car and the city starting to fall apart. She had been too caught up with those problems to realize that the Doctor and she were stuck here, never to be able to get back. After all, the human race wouldn't get a way of travelling through time ever, right?

"Let's think about that when we've finished taking care of whatever is going on here," said Rose quietly, her voice sounding soft.

The Doctor glanced over at her, nodding his head once before looking back at the road. "I still don't like this."

"What?" asked Rose, catching the attention of Avery as well.

"Driving," said the Doctor. "I feel so… limited. Time-Lords don't drive _cars_."

"Well," said Rose, chuckling quietly at the distraught look on the Doctor's face. "You better get used to it 'cause we'll be stuck here for a while."

"Time-Lords?" asked Avery, leaning forwards slightly, furrowing her brow. "Are you aliens?"

"No – Well – I am," said the Doctor. "She's as Human as you."

Rose smiled at Avery who continued to stare at the Doctor.

"But you look so Human…" said Avery, letting her finger touch his coat. "Most people from space that I've met haven't looked this human before… Wait. They talk with Brittish accents on your planet?"

Rose laughed at this, looking away from the Doctor who furrowed his brow, not sure what to answer. "I – This is just the way I talk. I don't usually talk like this. But for you to understand it, I talk like this."

"You can talk with an American accent as well then?" asked Avery, making the Doctor grin.

"'Course I can!" said the Doctor, his accent now sounding like Avery's, a southern accent dripping from his words.

"Cool," said Avery, nodding her head as the Doctor smiled.

"Normally, people are more fascinated about the fact that my name is the Doctor, or where I come from… but, no. Not Avery!" said the Doctor as Avery started to laugh. "She's curious about what accents aliens talk!"

Rose started to laugh with Avery, the both of them making the Doctor smile. What he said was the truth though, Avery had barely questioned any of his existence and although he knew that Earth was quite used to extra-terrestrial contact in this time already, people still usually ask more questions. She was still human and the Earth had only now started to accept aliens on their surface. Before that, the humans had come to the aliens, if even that as it still took some time to get away from their own solar system. The fact that Avery barely asked any questions made the Doctor see that she truly was an accepting person and it made him feel more comfortable with her. But that wasn't all. There was something else about her that made the Doctor feel almost completely calm with her near him. There was something inside of her, something that he couldn't quite figure out.

"Turn here," said Avery after a while.

The small city where the Californian Institute of Technology lay was small. It looked as though it was built around a single, tall building with thousands of windows. It was oddly shaped, liked a spiral that reached up for the sky, waiting for something else to pick it up and make it go away from the Earth. The buildings surrounding it were nothing compared to it, and Rose looked at it with amazed eyes as the Doctor drove through the city. They had to drive slowly as there was damage to this city as well, cars that had crashed and cracks in the concrete. People stared at them as they drove past, scared people that all were dirty with dust and blood. Most of them were huddled on the pavement, holding their loved ones close to each other, almost as if they were waiting for something to happen.

"They look so scared…" said Rose.

"Why does it feel like they know something that we don't?" asked Avery.

* * *

 **The Californian Institute of Technology, California, USA**

Professor Utah sighed, pressing two fingers to the bridge of his nose.

"It's been sent," said John, a scrawny little guy that worked in the network department. "Shit…"

"What?" asked the Professor, his gaze immediately snapping over to the boy.

"The networks just went down," said John, his colleague, Danny, sighing as well.

"What do you mean 'down'?" asked the Professor as he walked over to the two boys, leaning his elbows on their chairs and bending forwards slightly in order to look at their screens.

"They're just… down," said John. "As if someone turned them off."

"Could it be them?" asked the Professor, earning a look from Danny.

"Could be," said Danny. "But we won't find out now. Not without the networks down."

"Even Weyland's down," mumbled John.

"Did you manage to send it? Did the people see it?" asked the Professor.

"Yes," said John.

"Good," said the Professor. "Let's hope the President does something about this… we can't have them being here."

* * *

 **San Francisco, California, USA**

 _"- I've just received a signal from San Francisco. An odd signal that appeared after the earthquake. It's a sort of report. I think – well, we think – that this was supposed to go to the mothership that quite possibly is in orbit with the Earth right now. Now, I don't know anything more about this signal… But I do know that the earthquake… It wasn't the last one. There's going to be more. More earthquakes. I've got some massive readings of activity coming from all around San Francisco and inside the city as well. So, I advice you to stay indoors or find a safe place to be at. Go to some kind of stabile wall and press yourselves against it. Those buildings aren't built for so many earthquakes with that kind of destruction-"_

The people out on the streets started to panic again as the signal was cut off. Emily, Tim and Greg stood outside of their helicopter, listening to the sound of the voice that echoed through whatever device that the people had with some sort of speaker inside of it. Communicators, screens, radio; anything.

"Shit," said Greg, running a hand through his short, dark hair. "We gotta find her."

"Where do we start?" asked Tim, his voice cracking as the worry he felt started to make him dizzy.

"I'll call her," said Emily, taking out the communicator. "Can't believe I didn't think about this earlier."

"We thought she'd still be at Richard's work," said Tim, placing a trembling hand on Emily's arm. "Don't blame yourself."

"Tim," said Greg as Emily placed the communicator she wore against her ear. "A couple months ago, Richard came to pick you and Ave up at my house…"

"Yes," said Tim, not seeing where he was going with this.

"Ain't that the car he owned?" asked Greg, pointing to a flipped over car, a piece of concrete having turned it into a piece of metal that lay pressed against the ground.

"There's no network. Freaking Weyland," said Emily with a sigh, turning back to Tim and Greg as she threw her communicator away, seeing it as something useless. When neither of the men answered her, she looked over at the thing they were staring at, seeing her worst nightmare in front of her.

Her scream blended in with the scream of the others.

* * *

 **Outside of the Californian Institute of Technology, Californa, USA**

The Doctor parked the car right outside of the Institute, in between two cars that looked to have been abandoned there. There were no people around the tall building as everyone was hiding somewhere else. Once again, the Doctor felt as though he had missed something important and he was determined to find out what it was.

Rose and Avery stepped out of the car after the Doctor who immediately ran up to the front door. It was made out of glass and the Doctor peeked inside, seeing an abandoned hallway. He glanced back at Rose and Avery, finding them still by the car. For a moment, he was annoyed at how slowly they were moving, until he noticed Avery was leaning against the car, pressing a hand against her leg while scrunching up her face in pain. Immediately, the Doctor ran over to them, placing himself next to Rose.

"How are you holding up?" asked the Doctor, making Avery look up at him.

"It hurts… But I'll be fine," said Avery, retreating her hand to find it covered with blood. "Wouldn't mind a Band-Aid or something like that though."

"Come on. Let's get you inside," said the Doctor, placing an arm around Avery's, supporting some of her weight in order to make it easier for her to walk. "Rose, get the door."

Rose nodded, jogging up to the front door and opening it, holding it open for the Doctor and Avery as they huddled inside. He led her to a chair and slowly lowered her down onto it, letting her rest there before he ran to a nearby screen, starting to snoop around, trying to find a map of the building so that they knew where they were supposed to go to find this professor.

Rose sat down on a chair nearby Avery, taking out her phone and searching for her mother's number. She stared at it for a while, not knowing what to say to Jackie once she answered.

 _Hey, mum! I'm stuck in the future forever! You'll never see me again! Bye!_

She sighed, looking away from the phone for a minute before deciding not to call her. At least not yet.

"What is that?" asked Avery, making Rose look over at her, the Doctor cursing silently which made both women look over at him before continuing to talk.

"It's a phone," said Rose, handing it over to Avery so she could look at it.

"I think I once read about these… at school," said Avery, inspecting every inch of the mobile-phone. "My teacher was very fascinated in the technology of old Earth… Hold on!"

Rose watched Avery as she looked at Rose, then back at the phone again, and then back at Rose again.

"How'd you get one of these? No, let me reformulate that… Why do you have one of these?" asked Avery.

"It's… a long story," said Rose.

Avery furrowed her brow. "I don't see the Doctor finding a way to the Professor soon-"

"Oi!" called the Doctor, sounding rather offended by her words until he continued to search for information.

"So, try me," said Avery, ignoring the Doctor's protest.

Rose glanced back at the Doctor who pretended not to notice her pleading look until she looked back at Avery who was watching her with curious eyes. "This ship that the Doctor owns… It can travel through space."

"Yes, he's alien," said Avery. "I figured as much."

"But it can do more," said Rose, taking the phone back from Avery and holding it up. "This here is the newest technology from where I come from."

Avery's face fell into a monotone one as Rose continued. "I'm from London. The London that existed in 2006."

For a moment there was complete silence, the only sound coming from the screen that the Doctor was using, every touch on the screen giving off a silent beep, until Avery started to laugh. Quite loudly as well to which Rose only looked at her with surprised eyes. As Rose and the Doctor didn't start to laugh, Avery stopped laughing, her eyes widening.

"Oh my God… You're not kidding," said Avery, placing a hand over her mouth.

"Here we go!" said the Doctor, making Rose and Avery look at him. "A time-table for when everyone works!"

"And how's that going to help us find someone that can help us?" asked Rose, raising an eyebrow as she stood up and walked over to the Doctor, Avery staying in her chair.

"Well, if we know who we need to ask for information, we can look him up here and see where he works," said the Doctor before turning his head to Avery. "You know who?"

Avery nodded. "Professor Utah. He's the one that knows everything about earthquakes," she said as the Doctor typed in the name into the screen. "I was once on one of his lessons. It was quite interesting how he knew the answer to every single question about earthquake-"

"Got him!" said the Doctor, interrupting Avery. "Basement. Come on!"

* * *

 **The Californian Institute of Technology, Californa, USA**

"Professor, it's spiking again," said John as he ran over to the Professor.

"Where?" asked the Professor as John sprawled the long piece of paper all over the Professor's desk.

"All around San Francisco, sir," said John at the same time as Danny came running inside, a nervous sweat breaking out on his forehead.

"Sir, we've just had a tsunami warning from COBERT," said Danny.

"Come again?" exclaimed the Professor. "The second earthquake hasn't hit yet."

"It's the after shakes, sir. They've been everywhere. Especially out in the ocean," said Danny, shaking his head. "We have to warn the people!"

"How!? Danny, how?" asked the Professor, standing up. "The network's down!"

"I know but-"

"Sorry," said a voice from the doorway, causing all three to look back at the source of the voice. "Am I interrupting something? My name's the Doctor and this is Rose and Avery. We've travelled a long way to come here and ask this of you but, may we borrow your computers?"

"What?" asked the three scientists at the same time.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Don't forget to let me know what you thought about the story by commenting!**


	8. Chapter 7, Second Earthquake

**San Francisco's secret**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Doctor Who, the BBC does. All I own are my own characters and my own plot (except for the part of the plot that's inspired by San Andreas… I don't own that movie either.)

* * *

 **Chapter 7  
Second Earthquake  
**

 **The Californian Institute of Technology, Californa, USA**

"Sir, to use those computers, you'd need jurisdic-" started John.

"Here," said the Doctor, taking out his psychic paper from his pocket and showing it to John. "See! Geologists."

"But, sir, these are some high-tech-" started Danny but was cut off by the Professor.

"That's a blank piece of paper. Nothing else," said the Professor, furrowing his brow. "Are you from Torchwood?"

"What?" asked the Doctor, raising his eyebrows before looking down at the psychic paper in his hands and then back at the Professor, confusion written all over his face.

"Yes," said Avery, earning a surprised look from the Doctor. "We are. Sorry we had to lie but our mission is top secret."

"As usual, I suppose," said the Professor. "Is that the reason for that psychic paper of yours?" asked the Professor, earning a baffled look from the Doctor while Rose simply smiled an amused smile. "Quite unimpressive if you ask me."

At this, Rose started to chuckle when she saw the Doctor roll his eyes and put the piece of paper back in his pocket.

"Anyway," said Avery, giving the Doctor a look as she shuffled past him, trying her best to not limp although her leg felt as bad as ever. "We believe there's something more to these earthquakes and we need to find out what. Meaning, we need your scanners."

"Scanners?" asked Danny. "You think there's something in the Earth that is causing these earthquakes?"

"Yes," said the Doctor. "Now, time is ticking. Where's your scanner?"

"Here," said John, starting to walk towards the doorway, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Why are you not using Torchwood's scanners?" asked the Professor, his hand holding a firm grip on John's shoulder, making the young boy look up at the elder man with wide eyes.

The Professor did not know why he felt this suspicious of the newly arrived people, but he did and he couldn't help but feel reluctant to showing them their equipment and giving them access to them as well. If they truly were Torchwood, they would've looked like people from Torchwood as well, dressed in dark clothes and looking far more serious than these people did. Besides, shouldn't their leader be with them? The one man that the Professor simply couldn't remember the correct name of. John? Jake? Jack?

"The entire facility broke during the earthquake. Can't come in, our people can't get out," said Avery, gesturing towards her leg. "I was lucky though."

The Doctor eyed her again, Avery ignoring his look.

"Alright then," said the Professor, letting go of John's shoulder, John immediately showing the three newly arrived the way to the computers while Danny and the Professor followed them.

The equipment; the computers and the scanners were all located a few hallways away from the Professor's office, the room darkened as they entered it so that the screens could be seen better. There were no windows at all down in the basement levels and the only light that they actually had was the light that the lamps gave them. If the electricity would decide to give in, only the lamps would turn off as they were the only things connected to the same power grid as the rest of the city. The equipment all ran on separate generators that were located in the room next doors, in case something like this would ever happen. To say the least, they were prepared for earthquakes, though maybe not for what the reason was behind these earthquakes.

As John gestured towards the computers that held the scanners, the Doctor sat down on the chairs in front of the screen, immediately beginning to start the scanners on the one location where the Doctor thought that the drilling had come from.

Avery sat down on a chair next to him, not looking at the computers but at her leg. She was starting to feel slightly lightheaded and the entire upper part of her jeans were soaked with blood.

"Do you have a first-aid kit?" asked Rose as she crouched down in front of Avery.

Danny nodded. "I'll get it."

John and the Professor watched the Doctor work on the scanners, both of them looking rather impressed with how fast the Doctor was working on it.

"Sorry, what was your name again? Doctor-" started the Professor.

"Oh, just the Doctor," he replied, not looking away from the computers.

"Right," said the Professor, sounding rather confused by his answer. " _Doctor_ , it might interest you all that we caught a glimpse of a signal coming from San Francisco through our satellite that is currently in orbit. The same one you're using now, actually."

"A signal?" asked the Doctor, turning his head towards the Professor. "What kind of signal?"

"Well," started Danny as he cut open the jeans around Avery's wound. "It sounded an awful lot like a report to me."

"A report?" asked the Doctor.

"Like someone was telling someone about something they were doing," said Danny, dabbing a white piece of cloth onto the wound, making Avery wince slightly.

"You mean someone alien?" asked Rose, earning a glance from Danny.

"Unless someone in San Francisco has invented a new language," said Danny before focusing back on the wound.

"Can I hear it?" asked the Doctor, pressing the on button on the scanners.

 _"T-minus two minutes until scans are complete,"_ the computer chimed.

"Here," said John, opening up a new tab on the computer screen, logging into his own account and opening a file named _unknown_.

The Doctor pressed a button on the screen, starting the recording. It was a strange language, one that Rose and Avery didn't understand to Rose's dismay. This was only proof of the fact that the TARDIS was indeed gone. After all, the Doctor seemed to be understanding it but Rose didn't. The TARDIS wasn't translating it for her anymore.

"Sounds like screaming to me," said Avery.

It did to those who didn't talk the language. It reminded Rose a lot of tires screeching when someone hits the brakes too hard, a noise she had grown accustomed to as she grew up in London. To Avery, it simply sounded like the noise an elephant makes, though a thousand times more high-pitched. In there somewhere, there were sounds of clicking as well.

"What's the clicking noises?" asked Avery, Danny starting to wrap a bandage around her leg.

"Adverbs," said the Doctor, causing Avery to raise an eyebrow.

"You understand this?" asked Avery.

"Yes," said the Doctor. "I know what species they are. But I don't understand what they're doing here… They're friendly. Actually, they're _against_ violence. The most peaceful species I've ever met."

"Then what are they doing here?" asked John quietly, seeming to have accepted the fact that the Doctor knew all of this quite easily.

"Maybe they crashed?" asked Avery, nodding a thanks at Danny as he finished taking care of her leg.

"Or maybe they weren't as kind as you thought they were," suggested Rose, still sitting crouched next to Avery.

"No… They're peaceful alright," said the Doctor before glancing at Avery. "Crashing makes sense. Good thinking, I like that. But why would they crash? No, better question. What were they doing here in the first place? Their galaxy is far, far away… I would be unnecessary for them to come here."

"Maybe they were lost?" asked Avery.

"Once again, good thinking. But that doesn't explain why they're all the way here," said the Doctor.

 _"Scan complete,"_ informed the computer, making everyone look back at the computer.

"Oh my…" said Rose. "What is _that_?"

"That, Rose, is a spaceship," said the Doctor.

* * *

 **San Francisco, California, USA**

While Emily was sat on the pavement, panting hysterically, Tim and Greg inspected the turned over car that belonged to Richard. There was no blood nor was there anyone in the car. Meaning that the chances of both Avery and Richard having gotten out before the car was crushed by a piece of one of the buildings, was big. This gladdened Tim and gave him more hope to continue the search for his daughter, however Emily was not feeling the same way. Greg gestured over to Emily, signalling for Tim to walk over there and talk to her and although he didn't want to, knowing that in this state, anything he said would be taken the wrong way by her, he still started to walk over to her. Greg sat down against the broken car, watching the citizens of the city stare at them with wide eyes. It suddenly hit him that none of the people here had been helped yet. He hadn't seen a single sign of the government helping the people yet and it had been a couple of hours since the earthquake had hit already. Where was the government? Did they not know that this was happening?

Tim sat down next to Emily, sighing as he did. It was an unintentional sigh which he had barely even noticed that he had let out, though Emily noticed it and felt angered by it, knowing that this wasn't what Tim wanted at all; talking to her. There was a reason to why they had decided to split up after all.

"You okay?" asked Tim, watching Emily clutch the bag closer to her.

"Yeah, I'm feeling just _great_ ," Emily spat back, avoiding to look at him.

"Yeah, me too," said Tim, ignoring the venomous tone to her voice. "We'll find her. She made it out of the car. There's no blood."

"But she's not here. If she's not here, she can be anywhere," said Emily with a sigh, the harsh tone having left her voice now.

"She's a smart girl. She knows how to survive," said Tim, earning a look from Emily.

"Why'd you come for me?" asked Emily quietly, Tim's eyes immediately looking away from her. "You could have come straight here to get our daughter… But you came for me first. Why?"

Tim contemplated the question. He knew that in that very moment, when the earthquake had happened and Greg and him had barely made it away alive, the only thing that had been on his mind was his family, hence the reason that he and Greg decided to go get their families first before finding a safe place. And although Avery had been on his mind the most, Emily had been there as well. He knew that he still loved her, although he at the same time resented her as well. There had been a reason as to why he had asked her to marry him, but there had also been a reason as to why he had agreed on splitting up. She had been, and still was, the love of his life; having a strong personality and a very strong opinion about almost everything was something he craved in a woman. The feeling of being slightly under her authority was sexy to him, but those characteristics had been what made their relationship a living hell to be in. After the death of their daughter - their little girl - Tim decided to never talk about it again. Though, Emily's way of dealing with it, was talking about it and she had a very strong opinion about exactly whose fault the drowning was. Though, at the same time she didn't blame him. After all, they still had Avery. Just not the Avery that they had created together. The fact that she didn't blame him while he blamed himself every day, even after ten years, was what made him annoyed by her as well. She should be mad at him. She should blame _him._ He was the one that was there with her after all. But it didn't seem to matter to Emily.

"Don't know," said Tim quietly.

"Don't give me that. Don't give me that 'I just follow the flow' crap again-"

"Because I still love you, alright!? And we're still a family! I haven't signed those papers yet and no matter what you think, Emily, those papers aren't going to make us less of a family either!" said Tim, standing up, earning a shocked look from Emily. "That's _our_ daughter out there. And if there should be someone out there looking for her, it should be her _parents_! Both of them. Not just one."

Emily stared at him as he walked away from her. She felt shocked about his outburst towards her, something he had never done before. The walking away part, he had done, but never after an _outburst_. Usually, he'd simply scoff and walk away while Emily was screaming at him, but this time it was the other way around. And what he had said, scared her. He still loved her, he still wanted to be a family. But did she?

"Hey man," said Greg as Tim sat down next to him. "How'd it go?"

"As it always does," muttered Tim. "Badly."

"Women," scoffed Greg.

"How you holding up?" asked Tim, glancing at Greg who immediately stiffened.

"Haven't really sunken in yet," said Greg. "Still running on adrenaline. The moment that's out of my system… I'll probably fall apart."

Tim nodded. "I know the feeling. And, you will. Fall apart, that is. But you'll also get over it."

"Easy for you to say," said Greg. "You didn't lose your daughter. You won't have to go to a funeral."

 _Oh, but I lost my daughter… And gained a new one._

"Yeah," muttered Tim. "Doesn't change the fact that she drowned."

"And survived," added Greg. "My house wasn't even there anymore."

"You know," said Tim, his eyes plastered on a certain thing up in the sky. "We can continue complaining about how shitty our lives are… or we can start worrying about _that_!"

Greg looked over at where Tim pointed, seeing what he saw tensing as he did. The buildings a couple blocks away from San Francisco started to wobble. It looked as though something was moving towards them. Each second that passed, a new block was hit by whatever was happening, causing more buildings to wobble.

"Second earthquake," whispered Greg.

Immediately, Tim stood up, starting to run towards Emily who looked at him with a baffled look. She hadn't seen the buildings yet as her back was turned towards them, though she soon realized something was wrong as people all around her started to run, pointing at something behind her.

Then, as if something broke underneath of them, the ground suddenly seemed to fall down a notch. The movement caused Tim to fall over, luckily managing to fall on all fours, avoiding a nasty fall. For a moment, the entire atmosphere in the city was completely dead-silent. As if everyone in the city was holding their breath, waiting for the shaking to begin. Multiple people had fallen down after the movement of the ground, but no one made a move to stand up, knowing that if this indeed was the second earthquake, it would be useless to stand up again. The only sound, was the creaking of the buildings as they wobbled, the metal that was holding them up not enjoying the movement at all.

However, that creaking was soon replaced by a loud noise. A strange noise, as if someone was whaling though at the same time not. It reminded Tim, Greg and Emily a lot of an elephant's noise, though several octaves lower than what it was supposed to sound like and almost as if it was in a slow motion mode. It didn't seem to want to end either, and Greg wasn't the only one who placed his hands over his ears, trying to block the horrifying sound out.

Tim, on the other hand, stood up, running towards Emily who had her face in her arms, still sitting on the pavement with her legs crossed, the bag clutched against her chest. The moment Tim reached her, he placed an arm around her, holding her against him as he looked around himself. The building's continued to wobble, though he himself felt nothing that could be the cause of the buildings movement in the first place. At least, he thought he didn't feel anything. Until the ground suddenly fell down one notch again before being followed by the ground shaking vigorously. It didn't feel like an earthquake though. It felt like something was simply bumping against the ground.

The sound got louder.

* * *

 **The Californian Institute of Technology, Californa, USA**

"But that's underneath the entire city," said Avery, looking from the screen to the Doctor. "That's impossible."

"Apparently not," said the Doctor, turning his attention to the sound again. "It's a sort of report… They're telling someone how close they are to getting out."

"Getting out?" asked Rose, standing up. "What, getting out from underneath of San Francisco? Are they going to fly away?"

The Doctor turned towards the Professor, his face intimidatingly serious as he took out a pair of glasses from his coat. "We need to get those people to safety."

"You mean evacuate the city?" asked the Professor. "That's impossible. With the network down and everything."

"There has to be a way to get the network up again," said the Doctor, earning a look from John and Danny.

"First of all, Doctor. What the hell is going on!?" asked the Professor. "What the hell is that spaceship doing there!?"

"I don't know," said the Doctor. "I really don't know. The only way for me to find that out, is gone."

"The TARDIS," concluded Rose.

"Exactly. I could've contacted them or something like that," said the Doctor. "But I can't now. So, what I need, is the network running again."

"So you can contact those aliens?" asked John, earning a nod from the Doctor.

"Sweet!" exclaimed Danny, earning a grin from the Doctor.

"Torchwood and their stupid first contact rules," muttered the Professor as he placed two fingers on the brig of his nose. "Fine. But it won't be easy to get the network running again."

"Not easy is an underdrift. It's basically impossible," said John.

"We'll need Weyland Industries on our side," said Danny.

"Now, I don't want anything to do with them-" started the Professor, shaking his head.

"But they have the equipment we need, right? They're our only hope," said Avery.

"Yeah, but good luck contacting them with the network down," scoffed John.

"Sorry, Weyland Industries?" asked Rose as the Doctor turned back to the screens, putting on his glasses and leaning forwards, inspecting the readings further.

John and Danny looked at Rose with a baffled expression on their faces, staring at her for a moment before Avery broke the silence.

"Basically the one company that owns anything that has with technology to do. Screens, communicators, satellites-"

"And the network," added Rose, earning a nod from Avery.

"Where have you been the past thirty years?" asked Danny with an amused look on his face. "Living under a rock or something?"

"Hey," said Rose, a stern look plastered on her face. "It's a reasonable question."

Danny lifted his hands up, chuckling before looking back at John. "Like we said. It's near to impossible to contact them."

"You keep saying _near_ to impossible," said the Doctor, looking back at Danny and John, taking his glasses off. "Why's that?"

"The President has his own network, right? That's what you're thinking about?" asked Avery, earning a look from the Doctor as Danny and John nodded.

"Hasn't Torchwood got one as well?" asked the Professor.

"It's down," said Avery, before turning back to Danny and John. "Can you use that network?"

"Whoa there!" said Danny, waving his hands about as he continued talking. "You're talking about _hacking_ the freaking _president's_ private network in order to contact those aliens! Are you even hearing yourselves!?"

"It could work though," said John, earning a glare from Danny.

The Professor shook his head. "This isn't about the law anymore, Dan," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "This is about saving those people."

"How long do we have?" asked Rose, earning a look from everyone in the room.

"An hour until their digging is done," said the Doctor.

"Great," sighed Danny.

"Do it," said the Professor, looking at John and Danny who, for a moment, looked at the Professor with wide eyes before pushing the Doctor and his chair to the side and immediately starting to type away at the screens.

"Doctor…" said Avery, making him look at her. "An hour until they've finished digging… But they'll be wanting to get away as well."

"Yes," said the Doctor. "So, basically… An hour until the city's destroyed."

"Then we shouldn't focus on contacting those aliens," said Avery, leaning forwards. "We should be focusing on getting everyone out of there; evacuating the city."

"What?" asked the Doctor. "And let the Maaliky destroy the entire city of San Francisco?"

"Maali- what?" asked Rose.

"Yes. The city's not as important as those lives," said Avery. "And who says that they'll even agree on staying down there in the dirt? Either way, we'll need to get those people out of there."

The Doctor looked at her, staring into her eyes for a moment as he contemplated what she had just told him. Then, he nodded, averting his gaze to Danny and John again.

"Danny-boy, Johnny! Once you've hacked the network, contact the President," said the Doctor.

"What!?" exclaimed Danny. "I'm not talking to the President of the United States! What am I supposed to say?"

"Don't worry," said the Doctor, standing up and clapping his shoulder while John continued to type away on the screen. "You won't have to talk."

Suddenly, the ground started to shake underneath of their feet. It wasn't much, but it was enough to make things fall down to the floor as well as make the Doctor lose his balance as he stood there, though he gripped the chair John was sitting on tightly, preventing himself from falling. The Professor and Rose held onto each other while Avery simply gripped the table, trying to keep her chair from rolling away, the wheels underneath her chair not enjoying the vibrations of the floor, wanting to roll her away from everyone.

"Was that the earthquake?" asked Danny, turning back to the Professor.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Don't forget to let me know what you thought about the story by commenting!**


	9. Chapter 8, the President

**So sorry about the chapter being the same before! Don't know what I did to be honest... Here is chapter 8 :)**

* * *

 **San Francisco's secret**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Doctor Who, the BBC does. All I own are my own characters and my own plot (except for the part of the plot that's inspired by San Andreas… I don't own that movie either.)

* * *

 **Chapter 8  
The President of the United States of America  
**

"Was that the earthquake?" asked Danny, turning back to the Professor.

"You two keep hacking," said the Professor, pointing a finger at them. "I'll check COBERT."

The Doctor and Rose followed the Professor as he walked towards the other end of the room, a large screen placed on the wall existing there. Next to it, a table was located on which a large machine was placed. The machine was turned on and a long roll of paper was coming out of it. It reminded Rose of a printer although it looked five sizes too big. On the piece of paper, multiple readings were placed. Numbers, mostly nines and eights, were on one part of the paper while on the other part of the paper, scribbles could be seen.

As the Professor grasped the paper, looking at it as it continued to come out of the machine, his eyes widened.

"This isn't possible," said the Professor. "COBERT read that as an earthquake of nine point nine…"

"That little shaking we just felt?" asked the Doctor, earning a nod from the Professor. "Impossible."

"I know. Maybe it's broken. We had to reboot it after the former earthquake. That one we did feel quite well," said the Professor, letting go of the paper again.

"Remember, though, those aren't earthquakes," said the Doctor.

"Than what are they?" asked the Professor, turning to look at the Doctor.

"The shaking we're feeling, that's the drill that the Maaliky are using to dig themselves out of the ground," said the Doctor. "It's not real earthquakes."

"So, you're saying that the COBERT is useless right now?" asked the Professor.

"Where is its other end placed?" asked the Doctor.

"At the moment, we're reading from the one that's underneath of San Francisco," said the Professor. "As that is where most of the earthquakes' origin is."

The Doctor's face fell into one of concern as it hit the Professor.

"Meaning that San Francisco just had an earthquake of that degree," said the Professor quietly.

"I highly doubt they actually felt it that much," said the Doctor. "What that machine picks up is vibrations of the earth which is perfect for whenever there is an actual earthquake. But right now, it's not just the earth that's moving. But also the ship."

The Professor nodded, looking down at the readings again and sighing. "The ship isn't going to worry about the fact that there is an entire city above them, is it?"

"No," said the Doctor. "The Maaliky is an ancient species who have survived a thousand wars by being the ones with the solution towards peace. They are friendly and they're _very_ intelligent. But when something goes amiss with their own people, like now, a ship that's crashed, been here for so long that it's buried underneath a city, they're not going to care about lives. They're going to care about their ship."

"But, if they've been down there for so long, they can't possibly be alive? Unless they had an unlimited food supply or something," said Rose, earning a shake of the Doctor's head.

"I doubt they're alive. Maaliky may be an ancient species, but they're also much alike the insects on this planet. They don't live for very long. They don't breathe oxygen either and if their engines were the cause of the crash, then their air supply will have run out quickly," said the Doctor. "And even if they would've had air and food… they would've died out soon anyway. Maaliky don't have females on board. They may be an ancient species, but they haven't evolved when it comes to gender equality."

Rose nodded her head, walking closer to the printer and reading the label that was placed on it: Computer of Before Earthquake Readings. She couldn't help but smirk at the childish name.

The Professor furrowed his brow; "How do you know all of this? You're not from Torchwood now are you?"

The Doctor looked at the Professor, opening his mouth as if to say something but was cut off by Danny who called for him.

"We're in!" he said, causing the three of them to run back to John, Danny and Avery.

"Contact the president," said the Doctor. "Oh, what's his name in this year… No, wait! _Her_ name is Nancy Lewis, right?" His face lit up as Danny nodded his head, a grin appearing on the Doctor's lips. "Knew it!"

He placed himself on the chair on which John had been sitting on earlier, Rose sitting down next to him on Danny's chair while Avery, the Professor, Danny and John stood behind them, looking at the screen as America's flag was displayed on the screen, the call slowly being directed towards the White House in Washington.

The moment the flag disappeared and the face of a woman appeared on the screen instead, the Doctor smiled widely.

"Miss President, ma'am!" said the Doctor happily.

She had blonde hair that fell down loosely around her shoulders in beautiful waves while the front part of her hair was braided and put around her head, making it look like she was wearing a hair-band although it was in fact made by her own hair. On her nose, a pair of glasses rested while she wore a suit, an eagle embroidered into the jacket's left breast-pocket.

 _"Who are you and how did you get onto my private network?"_ she asked, the picture as clear as daylight.

"Ma'am, we don't have much time, but there's something happening in California, San Francisco," said the Doctor.

 _"I am aware of that. The network is down in California."_

"Not anywhere else?" asked Rose, furrowing her brow.

 _"No. I will let you know, sir and ma'am, that this network is not for ordinary people an-"_

"Oh, we know," said the Doctor lightly. "Just that it's the only one working and we happen to have a slight problem other than the network being down."

Lewis furrowed her brow, seeming to still be quite interested although they were trespassing in her private network. _"And what is that?"_

"Oh, just the fact that a giant alien space ship happens to be underneath of San Francisco which means that in about… oh, fifty minutes, the city will be destroyed," said the Doctor.

 _"What now? Are they attacking and I haven't been informed by Torchwood?"_

"Again with the Torchwood," sighed the Doctor. "What even is it?"

"Doesn't matter," said Rose. "The people, Doctor."

"Oh, yes," said the Doctor. "We need your help in evacuating the city."

 _"If these aliens are attack-"_

"They're not attacking," said the Doctor, waving his hands about. "They're just trying to get away from the Earth. But they're not really doing it in a way that will save all those people in the city."

 _"What will you have me do then? Talk to them?"_

"Talking won't help, I'm afraid. They may be a peaceful species, but they're not exactly going to listen to a species that won't pose a threat to them. All they want is to get their ship back," said the Doctor.

 _"Tell me again who you are and why I should listen to you, sir?"_ asked the President, her eyes seeming to flicker between the screen she was looking at and something or someone that was standing behind it.

"I'm the Doctor and this is Rose," said the Doctor quickly, Rose waving her hand in a greeting. "Now, about those alien-"

 _"Doctor!"_ exclaimed the President, her hand waving something away that was standing behind the screen. _"It is an honour to meet you in person. I have read a lot about you."_

"You have?" asked the Doctor, exchanging a look with Rose. "Probably something I haven't done yet…" The last part, he murmured to Rose, though everyone heard him.

 _"What will you have me do, Doctor?"_ asked Lewis.

For a moment, the Doctor simply looked at the President, seeming to be thinking out a plan in his own mind. "Professor," he started, turning his head towards the elderly man. "You said that Weyland Industries owned the satellites up there?"

"Yes," nodded the Professor. "'Part from the one we use for our equipment."

The Doctor nodded before turning back to the screen. "Could Weyland use those satellites to open a link to everything that can receive an audio signal in San Francisco?" he said though didn't wait for anyone to answer as he continued. "Yes, they can! I want them to do this."

 _"I can contact Mr Weyland for you, if you want?"_

"Brilliant!" exclaimed the Doctor. "Have them call us the moment they've made this happen."

Lewis nodded once before ending the call, the American flag returning to the screen, replacing the blonde woman's face. The Doctor turned back around to the others, staring at them.

"We're going to evacuate a city!" he exclaimed happily.

* * *

 **San Francisco, California, USA**

People were screaming, running, crying and falling down everywhere around them. Greg had managed to get to Emily and Tim, having ushered them up against the closest building's wall. Though, this hadn't kept them any safer. The buildings were wobbling and shaking just as much as the ground and the few buildings that were still intact were starting to fall apart as well. The one that they were currently pressed up against was doing just that; falling apart. Huge chunks of concrete fell down all around them and a large crack in the wall appeared. This had been the last straw for Tim and he had immediately grabbed both Greg and Emily before starting to do just like all the others were doing.

Run.

Neither of them let go of each other's hands, though all of them knew very well that running wasn't going to be helping them survive that earthquake, if it even was that. Strange noises filled the air, noises that didn't belong to the breaking buildings or the panicking people. Noises that seemed distant, yet near. Noises that sounded inhuman and strange, as if someone was revving the engine of a car to its maximum ability though at the same time trying their best to keep the noise of the car quiet with a blanket covering it.

The three of them were nearing the harbour though when they saw the state of the water, they froze, a few people bumping into them as they were too panicked to notice that either of them were standing there. The water was going wild, as if someone was playing in a bathtub, sliding back and forth in the tub, trying to create a tsunami just for fun. However, this was no fun. As the waves became larger and more violent, more and more of the harbour seemed to give in to the waves. Huge parts of the concrete were already giving in as well and the boats that used to be there, were all gone. Far off amongst the waves on the ocean, a large cruising boat could be seen. Most likely it had been on its way towards the harbour when the earthquake had hit. Although it was far away from the harbour now and it shouldn't have any problem with the waves so far away from the harbour, it had a problem. A huge problem. A huge problem coming towards it from the far off ends of the ocean.

A huge wave.

Compared to the ones that were crashing against the harbour where once couples had walked in the moonlight, kissing and having a lovely time together, that wave was massive. Which it was. And both Tim, Emily and Greg knew exactly what that wave meant. That giant wave that simply rolled towards the harbour, not even bothered by the smaller waves crashing against it or the large cruising boat that broke on impact with it, meant a tsunami was coming their way.

"We need to get out of here…" whispered Tim, barely even hearing himself amidst the crying and screaming of the citizens of San Francisco.

"The helicopter!" called Greg, tugging on Emily's hand. "We need to get out of here, now!"

"It's too far away!" called Tim back, Emily simply staring at the wave coming towards them.

"Then run, for God's sake! RUN!" exclaimed Greg, Tim immediately running away from the harbour and towards the one place where everyone was running, the main road that _left_ San Francisco.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit," muttered Greg as he continued running.

 _"All citizens of San Francisco."_ A voice suddenly called over the multiple noises created by the earthquake and the screaming people. _"May I have your attention please."_

Tim slowed down to a jog as he looked up towards where the voice came from. Emily accidentally stepped on the heel of his shoe as he slowed down his pace while Greg shouted at him to continue running.

 _"My name is the Doctor. And I'm talking to you all because I have something important to tell you all."_

"What the hell are you doing, man!" called Greg, ignoring the British man that was talking to them all. "Just run!"

He let go of Emily's hand.

"Greg!" called Emily, her voice cracking as he almost immediately disappeared amongst the crowd of people. She was about to let go of Tim's hand when he pulled her in against him, placing his hands on her hips and looking her in the eyes.

"Stay with me," he simply said, his stern voice sending shrills down even his own spine. He didn't know where that tone had come from. All he knew was that he wanted to know what this person that managed to speak to all of them wanted to say.

 _"Your city is about to break in two. Literally, I'm afraid. So I need you to listen carefully at what I am telling you. You need to get out. Don't bother running to the main road. Run towards any place that is an exit. As long as you are outside of the boarders of San Francisco, you are safe. You hear me? Run, just run!"_

Tim and Emily shared a look before both nodding, starting to run away from the main road, the pack of people that had come that way being too much to get through. Although their new route which they both knew the way for, was much longer than the main road one, it would be safer. Plus, they were running in the opposite direction of the harbour, away from the tsunami.

 _"Oh!"_ said another voice, causing Emily and Tim to freeze, the both of them squeezing each other's hands tightly. _"And don't go to the San Francisco Bridge. That ain't safe either!"_

"Avery…" whispered Emily before tears welled up in her eyes. "She's safe… My daughter's safe… My little girl…"

"Come on!" said Tim, his voice cracking as tears of relief welled up in his eyes as well. "We need to keep moving. For her."

Emily nodded, taking a sharp breath before continuing to run, her hand holding a tight grip on Tim's.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Don't forget to let me know what you thought about the story by commenting!**


	10. Chapter 9, Tsunami

**Once again want to apologize about the previous chapter being the same as chapter 7. If you haven't been able to read that yet, go back and do so now 'cause it should be alright now! :D**

* * *

 **San Francisco's secret**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Doctor Who, the BBC does. All I own are my own characters and my own plot (except for the part of the plot that's inspired by San Andreas… I don't own that movie either.)

* * *

 **Chapter 9  
Tsunami**

 **The Californian Institute of Technology, California, USA**

 _"There you go, Doctor. I've turned the network back on as well. Hopefully it keeps working."_

On the screen, the image of an elderly man with grey hair and wrinkles everywhere was seen. He smiled at the Doctor before making a thumbs up towards him and ending the call, the screen turning black.

"Oh, good old Mr Weyland," said the Doctor while leaning back in his chair. "Didn't think he'd ever become this big."

"Do you know everyone or something?" asked Avery as she mimicked the Doctor's movement, grinning at him.

"Not everyone. Just a lot of people," said the Doctor, shrugging to which Avery simply laughed.

"Doctor!" called Rose from where she sat in front of a screen with Danny, John and professor Utah. "You're gonna wanna see this."

The Doctor quickly stood up and walked over to her, Avery following behind him. On the screen, there was a live broadcasting being made of the latest news of San Francisco. Now that the network in the city was back online, people were reporting about what was happening and the news had already been spread worldwide. Helicopters were flying over the city, showing video clips of people running, buildings wobbling and collapsing either on themselves or on each other. Reporters were talking quickly in the background, informing the world of the latest "earthquakes" that were happening in San Francisco. None of the reporters said anything about it actually being an alien ship, meaning that that particular information wasn't known in the city yet.

"Oh my God…" whispered Rose as one channel showed the main road that led out of the city. It was packed with people all trying to get away from the city.

 _"After a mysterious man and a woman let the city know that they needed to evacuate, the situation on the main road has gotten critical. People are being reported to be stepped on to death. Everyone wants to get out… Wait a minute, I'm getting in a new report… There is – there is a tsunami headed towards the city! I repeat, a tsunami is headed towards the city. Everyone who has the opportunity, please find a high spot to be in. The higher, the safer-"_

"How long, Doctor?" asked Avery quietly.

"Twenty minutes… The tsunami's going to hit before the aliens deport, washing every single life that didn't manage to get out of the city away before the ship can do it," said the Doctor in a quiet yet serious tone.

"Is the tsunami going to hit Oakland?" asked Avery, her voice starting to waver in panic.

Everyone in the room looked at her. Rose didn't quite understand why everyone was though, but the atmosphere in the room told her that it was because there were some bad news that were about to be spilled to the girl.

"Avery," said the Professor quietly. "Oakland was hit by the earthquakes as well just like the entire outside of San Francisco, hence the tsunami-"

"No," said Avery, tears forming in her eyes. "No, no, no, no."

The Doctor watched her as she took out her communicator, cursing as she saw that the incident with the car from earlier that day had crushed it.

"Here," said Rose, handing her phone to Avery, seeing her hands shake as she took it from her.

"My p-parents live in Oakland… _I_ live in Oakland," murmured Avery, Danny and John looked away from her with empathic looks on their faces. They all already had contacted their family, though their family was far away from California, luckily.

"How does it work?" asked Avery, her voice sounding calm although she didn't look very calm.

"Here," said the Doctor, taking the phone from her. "Number?"

"Diamond, sixty, heart," said Avery quietly, running a hand through her face as tears started to fall down her cheeks.

"Here," said the Doctor quietly, handing the phone back to her.

She looked at the phone for a while before hesitantly pressing it against her ear, having seen people do that in movies from the old days. Her eyes met the eyes of the Doctor and she could see the sympathy he felt for her as well as the worry. It didn't help her feel better.

* * *

 **San Francisco, California, USA**

Tim and Emily ran. That's all they did; run. Neither of them spoke and neither of them wanted to speak either. The feeling of knowing that their daughter was alright made them fight more and although they were beyond exhausted from the running and they could hear the water behind them closing in, they kept on going. That is, until a certain buzzing noise caused Tim to slow down his pace to a jog.

"Come on," said Emily, tugging at his hand. "We're nearly there."

"Wait, someone's calling me," said Tim, pushing his hand inside of his pocket.

"Who cares! This is life or death!" said Emily, tugging at his hand again.

Tim looked at the caller-id, seeing simple lines instead of a name or a number. He furrowed his brow at this, though pressed the green button anyway. Maybe…

"Are you kidding me?" asked Emily with an exasperated sigh as she looked back at the harbour, the tsunami coming in closer and closer.

"No one ever calls me on my private com, alright? No one, _but_ Avery," said Tim before looking down at the communicator, seeing no face appear. "Hello?"

 _"Da'!"_ exclaimed the voice of Avery, making both of them stop moving.

"Avery! Where are you?" asked Tim.

 _"Doesn't matter. Where are you?"_ asked Avery's voice.

"In San Francisco with your mum. We went to look for you, sweetheart. The city was being torn apart by the earthquakes," replied Tim.

 _"Sir? Hello, this is the Doctor speaking. I have a little message for you here… um, RUN!"_

Tim and Emily shared a look before looking back behind them.

 _"The tsunami is going to hit any second. Now, just find a high spot and get yourselves to safety."_

With a single look shared between the two of them, they quickly pushed their way inside one of the skyscrapers surrounding them, knowing that it would be futile to try and get to dry land now.

* * *

 **The Californian Institute of Technology, California, USA**

Avery sat on a chair, breathing deeply as she tried to calm herself down while Rose patted her back. She felt stupid for not having thought about her parents earlier, for not having tried to contact them before. Sure, she had been quite busy with staying alive herself not to mention the fact that the Doctor and Rose had managed to distract her as well since they had told them that they were going to try and find out what was going on, something Avery had been and still was curious about. Though none of that made up for the fact that she forgot about her own _family_. Her own _parents_.

"It's alright. They're gonna be fine," said Rose, her words sounding genuine although they both knew that it was all lies.

"Sorry," said the Doctor, jogging towards Rose and Avery, pushing past the Professor, John and Danny in order to be able to crouch down in front of the panicking Avery. "But, how old were you again?"

"Seventeen," she said in a whisper, tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Avery, listen to me," said the Doctor, placing his hands on her knees and looking her deep in the eyes. "Everything's going to turn out alright, you hear me?"

"What are we going to do?" asked Rose, seeing as Avery wasn't going to answer, the tears now spilling out over her cheeks. "We can't let those aliens destroy San Francisco."

"We can't… but we'll have to let them," said the Doctor, earning a look from Rose and the three scientists in the room, Avery simply looking away.

"Sorry, Doctor. But could you just… clarify that for me. Are we going to simply let them destroy San Francisco? And most of the surrounding area?" asked the Professor.

The Doctor looked over at him, still sitting in a crouched position in front of Avery. His hearts were beating fast though for some reason the fact that an entire city was going to be destroyed wasn't bothering him as much as the fact that Avery was crying. It had felt like this for him the entire day. For some reason, Avery had simply been more important to him than anything else and he wondered why. She was a seventeen year old girl who they had randomly found during the first "earthquake" that had hit the city. Although, maybe it wasn't very random after all. The Doctor had heard something else than just her screams. There had been something that drew him to her earlier that day during the panic and he still hadn't figured out what it was.

What was creating this odd… connection?

"That's exactly what I'm saying," said the Doctor as he looked back at Avery. Rose had started to brush through her hair with her fingers, trying everything in her power to make her calm down although the shaking didn't stop nor did the tears.

"You've got to be joking!" said John, crossing his arms over his chest. "That's outrageous! You can't just let those people die!"

"And what else would you have me do!?" exclaimed the Doctor, standing up again, turning to face John, Danny and the Professor. "Mm!? Go back there, dig a hole and enter the ship!? Everyone on board of that ship is _dead_! There are only androids and computers left to manoeuvre it and with that kind of technology on board of their ship, anyone who tries to hinder them from returning to their home planet will be incinerated within seconds. All they're thinking about is their technology. They don't want it to come in the wrong hands, and you know what? I'm on their side. There are people out there, in the universe, that'd destroy everything if they got the chance to lay their hands on that ship. So shut it, and leave them _alone_!"

The three scientists looked at the Doctor strangely before nodding their heads, not saying a word as they walked away, leaving the Doctor, Rose and Avery alone. Danny was the one to turn around, giving Rose and Avery one last look before nodding his head at the Doctor.

"My car's parked outside," he said before tossing something to the Doctor which he caught. "It's the blue one. Can't miss it. I'd use a boat to get to Avery's parents." With a wink, Danny turned and walked away.

In his hands, the Doctor held two sets of keys.

* * *

 **San Francisco, California, USA**

"Up, get up!" called Tim as he and Emily ran up the stairs, both of their breathing now laboured.

When they reached the top, Emily fell down on her knees, pressing her hands against her chest as she tried to catch her breath again. It had been a long time since she had run that much in a row and it wouldn't surprise her if her heart gave up because of the pressure it was in. Behind her, Tim was closing the door that led to the roof of the skyscraper they had chosen to take cover on. Luckily they had managed to get up to the roof before the water had come rushing towards them. The building they were currently standing on just so happened to be called "Weyland Corporation."

Tim's heart beat just as fast as Emily's and he rested his back against the door, listening to the tsunami as it hit the lower part of the skyscraper. Luckily, the building could resist the pressure of the water at the moment, though it wouldn't do it for much longer. Another wave was rushing in towards the bay which Emily and Tim could see from where they were standing, fifty floors up into the sky.

"What are we gonna do?" asked Emily quietly, her hands clutching the bag she had brought with her from her house tightly as if her life depended on that very bag.

"I don't know…" whispered Tim as he slid down the door, placing his elbows on his knees. "I don't know…"

"We're going to die up here…" said Emily.

When Tim didn't reply, tears started to well up in her eyes which she tried her hardest to push back, trying to stay strong for at least a little while longer.

"There has to be someone that can get us out of here. Some sort of rescue team…" said Tim, realizing that the rescue team that was the closest to them, was the one on Oakland where he had come from. The airport that he had been on with Greg before all hell broke loose. Now, that airport was cracked in two, maybe more, and Tim wasn't sure of where else the rescue team could find choppers during that panic. "Just… something…"

"The evac…" said Emily. "Was it because of the tsunami or something else?"

"The tsunami," said Tim. "What else?"

"Well," said Emily, standing up, her eyes locked on something far away from them. Tim watched her, looking at what she was looking at and widening his eyes as he saw it. "Maybe _that_ had something to do with it as well."

* * *

 **Outside of the Californian Institute of Technology, California, USA**

"Quickly!" called the Doctor, his voice sounding rather panicked as he jumped out of the car Danny had given to them, opening the car door to the back so that Avery could climb out while Rose jumped out of the car as well.

The moment the three of them had found Danny's car, they had jumped in. Avery had shown them the fastest route to the bay, which only was a five minute car-ride away from the institute. Now, they were searching for the boat that belonged to Danny, the name of the boat being written on the keys.

"Here!" called Avery, waving to Rose and the Doctor who were stood a little away from her, reading the names of the boats over there.

Quickly, they ran to Avery, following her onto the boat. It was a small boat with nothing to actually sit on. There was one steering wheel that reminded Rose and the Doctor a lot of the one that was in the car. Although, there were no pedals to use in order to make it move. Instead, there was a lever placed next to the wheel where multiple numbers were placed from one to six. Without fumbling about, the Doctor placed the key where it was supposed to go and turned it, the engines immediately starting while Avery helped Rose to loosen the boat from the bay.

The ocean was not at ease. Big waves were trying to throw their boat around, tossing it like it was a ball of twine that a kitten was playing with. Avery and Rose placed themselves on the floor in the back of the boat while the Doctor held on to the steering wheel, using the lever's different levels to make the boat go faster and slower, though he didn't really slow down a lot as he knew that they only had less than twenty minutes left until the ship underneath of San Francisco would depart. If Avery's parents were still in the city, they'd be killed.

As they got closer to the city's bay, the surface of the ocean got closer and closer to the edge of the bay they were following to San Francisco. It was a sign that the city was indeed overflown. The Doctor watched the water start to push its way over the edge, flowing the nearby houses with water as waves pushed the water over the edge. It wasn't long until the edge wasn't visible at all anymore, the ocean seeming to stretch further and further into land until the end of the ocean couldn't be seen anymore by the Doctor.

"Doctor!" called Rose, pointing a finger forwards as he looked back at her, worry latching itself onto his heart at her call though he calmed down slightly as he realized that Rose had simply seen something and wasn't being harmed.

Though the worry came back to him as he looked over at what Rose and Avery were seeing. He slowly pulled the lever down to number one, letting the boat slowly move towards where San Francisco began as his eyes were glued to the large bit of ship that was sticking out of the ocean not too far away from the city. It was slowly emerging more and more. Soon, the ship would start to emerge from underneath of the city as well and the Doctor now knew that they were going to have to hurry up if they wanted to save Avery's parents.

Quickly, he pulled the lever so that it stopped at the number six, making the small boat rush forwards quickly, the three of them now entering San Francisco.

"Avery!" he called, making the girl stand up and grip the Doctor's arm in order to steady herself. Big waves were clashing against the skyscrapers and if they weren't careful, the boat would follow one of those waves and hit the side of a skyscraper as well. "Where do you think they'd go?"

"The tallest building, most likely," said Avery, looking around at the city they were in as Rose joined them, grabbing the Doctor's other arm.

"And which is that?" asked Rose, her eyes wide as her veins were filled with adrenaline, her heart beating quickly.

"Well, we've got the Weyland Depository… I suppose that's a rather tall building," said Avery, earning a nod from the Doctor.

"Which way?" asked the Doctor.

"No," said Avery, shaking her head. "That building is placed by the bay."

"They'd never go towards the ocean," said Rose, earning a nod from Avery.

"So, what building?" pressed the Doctor, furrowing his brow.

"Weyland Corporations," said Avery, nodding her head.

"You sure?" asked the Doctor, looking at Avery who nodded her head, her hands holding a firm grip on his suit.

"Yes," she said, nodding her head. "Turn right here."

 **San Francisco, California, USA**

Tim was packing back and forth. The thing that was emerging from the ocean confused him and he pushed his brain into coming up with a plan on how to get away from the building. Perhaps, if he had just gone with the flow of people by the main road, he would've been able to get himself and Emily to safety by now. Though, that didn't happen and he knew he couldn't keep thinking about that, at the moment, he simply needed to get them to safety by getting away from the skyscraper they were on now.

The easiest way out of there was to run down again and simply run. Though, the water level had risen a lot lately and it was now two levels high, meaning that the exit was completely under water. He knew that the staircase was on the other side of the building, opposite from the exit and he also knew for a fact that neither he nor Emily could hold their breaths long enough to swim outside. Also, swimming wasn't the safest thing to do at the moment. From what he could see by the debris that was passing their skyscraper by, there was a strong current in the water along with strong waves which one could not simply _swim_ through.

They were trapped. There was no way for them to _fly_ off the skyscraper and there was no way for them to swim. They were completely trapped. All he could hope for was that the government had finally launched a rescue team to come and help those who had survived. Although, the closest airport was destroyed and it could take a while until they arrived at the city.

He turned to Emily who was seated with her back against the odd thing that was emerging from the water, her shoulders shaking as she continued to clutch the bag. He understood her obsession with the bag as it held something very important to the both of them. And he also understood her fear. So, he decided to walk over to her to try and at least ease her fear a little bit by showing her that he was there for her. However, a certain sound made him stop and turn back towards the edge of the skyscraper.

It was the sound of the engine of a boat and he furrowed his brow as he walked over to the edge, leaning over it and looking down at the water close to the building they were on. A flame of hope was ignited inside of him as he saw the small boat come to a halt underneath of him, three people being inside of the boat. They didn't turn the engine of though as it was too risky to do so, the waves being able to throw them against the building they were on.

"Emily! There are survivors down there!" called Tim, causing Emily to turn her head in a fast movement, staring at him with wide eyes, tears falling down her cheeks. "Hello!"

He called down to the three survivors in the boat, waving his hands about as much as he could without losing his balance and falling down.

"Up here!" he called, a smile appearing on his lips as the three survivors pointed up towards him, Emily joining him beside him. "Yes! We're here! You gotta help us!"

Emily started to laugh hysterically, tears still flowing down her cheeks as she placed the bag over her back, waving down at them as well.

"Help us!" she called, her voice cracking in the middle as Tim started to join in with her laughing.

"Da'!" called one of the survivors, waving her hands about as well, the other survivors holding her steady as the boat moved a lot thanks to the waves.

Both Emily and Tim froze as the person shouted this. They recognized that voice. It was there little girl. Avery.

"Oh my God…" whispered Emily, placing a hand over her mouth.

"What is she doing here!? She's supposed to be in safety!" exclaimed Tim before continuing to shout down at Avery and her fellow survivors. "What the hell are you doing here!?"

"I'm alright, da', mum!" called Avery.

As Emily kept on waving down to Avery, Tim realized something. Yes, Avery was down there with a boat. But, they had no way to get down to her. They had no way to get to their daughter so that they all could go with each other to safety. Tim and Emily were trapped…

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Don't forget to let me know what you thought about the story by commenting!**


	11. Chapter 10, Saving

**San Francisco's secret**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Doctor Who, the BBC does. All I own are my own characters and my own plot (except for the part of the plot that's inspired by San Andreas… I don't own that movie either.)

* * *

 **Chapter 10  
Saving  
**

Tears of happiness and relief were threatening to spill over at any second and she couldn't help but hug Rose tightly, the both of them giggling as they did. The Doctor, however, was looking up at Avery's parents with a serious look on his face. He had from the very beginning seen that they were both trapped up there. The water level was too high in order for them to get down and swim out since he knew Humans could not hold their breath for as long as it would take for them to swim down three floors and then out through the exit. It would be too long for them and if they jumped, they'd hurt themselves badly or they'd even die.

They were trapped up there.

"How are we going to get them down?" asked Avery, a smile on her lips as she looked at the Doctor.

Her question had been a simple one at first, just to see what ideas the Doctor had. Though when he looked at her, his brown eyes serious and no sign of a smile on his face, her smile faded away as did Rose's. "Doctor?"

"There's no way, Avery," said the Doctor quietly, preparing himself for how she was going to react to his words.

 _Denial first._

"Of course, there's a way," said Avery, shaking her head, trying to laugh his words away though failing, her face suddenly growing serious again.

 _Then panic._

"No, no, no, no… There has to be a way!" said Avery, her hands starting to shake as Rose placed a hand on her arm, trying to make her calm down. "They can't be stuck up there. They're my parents!"

"Avery-" started the Doctor though his sentence was cut off by the sound of engines closing in on them.

The sound came from high up in the sky, closing in on them quickly. Avery's parents turned their heads towards the sound as well and soon, the source of the sound could be seen flying towards them. It was a group of helicopters. Some were painted in a dark colour while some were painted in a strange, red colour. One of the red coloured helicopters lowered itself down so that it was hanging in the air above Avery's parents while the rest hurried past them.

"Who were they?" asked Rose.

"The rescue team!" called Avery, her smile returning to her lips as she pointed up to her parents.

"And the military," mumbled the Doctor, only Rose having heard him as Avery watched the helicopter above her parents.

If that group of military would try and engage with the ship, they'd all die. The thought made the Doctor scrunch his face up in annoyance. Had he not told the president to not interfere with the ship?

* * *

Tim and Emily squinted their eyes as they looked up at the helicopter that was hanging in the air above them. Wind came from the helicopter as it flew over them, causing both Emily's and Tim's hair to go completely crazy. They watched as the doors opened, a man sticking his head out to them, waving at them as a greeting. It took a while for Tim and Emily to realize who it was but when they did, the both of them started to laugh.

"Greg!" called Tim up to the man who saluted Tim, a smirk on his lips.

A ladder was lowered down to them which Emily and Tim quickly grabbed, getting onto it and starting to climb up. The moment Tim was high up enough, Greg lowered his hand to him, helping him up.

"It's good to see you, man," said Tim, giving Greg a pat on the back as he continued to help Emily up into the chopper as well.

"It's good to see you two made it," said Greg. "Thought you'd be somewhere safe though."

"We were safe. Safe from the tsunami," said Emily as Greg closed the door, signalling to the man who flew the helicopter to fly off.

"The tsunami isn't what we have to worry about," said Greg before Tim grabbed Greg's arm.

"Avery's down there," said Tim, earning a shocked look from Greg. "She's down there, in the water. We gotta help her out."

"Lower the helicopter, Bob!" called Greg to the man flying the chopper before he opened the doors again, the loud noise of the engines filling everyone's ears.

They looked down at the place where the small boat on which Avery had been on had been earlier, though it was already gone.

"Shit," said Tim, Emily grabbing a hold of his jacket.

"Where is she?" asked Emily over the sound of the engines.

"There!" said Greg, pointing a finger to where a smaller boat was driving away, as fast as it could, from the building they had been on earlier.

The three people in the boat looked up at the helicopter as it started to follow them. Greg pointed to the left, signalling to the man that was driving the boat that safety was towards there.

"What are you doing!" called Tim as Greg pushed the button that retrieved the ladder that Tim and Emily had gotten up with. "We gotta save her!"

"We can't! It's too risky. If they fall down into the water in the process, they'll be taken with the stream towards that thing over there!" called Greg to Tim, pointing towards the unknown thing that was starting to emerge from the water, already having pulled a huge chunk of the city with it, multiple skyscrapers already having collapsed. "Plus, the chopper doesn't fit inbetween the buildings. You should know that, Tim."

"Shit," said Tim, realizing Greg was right.

"If they fall when on that boat, the same thing will happen," said Emily sternly as Greg closed the doors again.

"Yes," said Greg. "But they've managed this far. They're safer on board of the boat."

Quickly, Greg placed himself in the empty seat at the front, putting on headphones and signalling to the driver to move away.

"Let's get you two to safety," said Greg as Emily slowly placed herself in the arms of Tim.

Softly, Tim placed a kiss on Emily's forehead. "She'll be alright. We'll get her back…"

Emily didn't reply. Instead, she placed her face against Tim's chest, holding a tight grip on him.

* * *

Whirlpools were starting to appear in the water all around them as the waves started to get worse for each minute that passed by. Avery and Rose sat in the back of the boat again, holding each other's hands as water splashed onto them. The Doctor steered the boat, avoiding the whirlpools as much as possible at the same time as he avoided getting too close to the walls of the skyscrapers. He was, too, completely drenched already though his hands still held a firm grip on the steering wheel, determined to get both Rose and Avery to safety. What would happen after they'd get to safety, where he and Rose were going to live the rest of their lives, he didn't think about just yet.

A sudden wave rushed over the boat, causing Rose and Avery to end up sitting in water as the boat was now starting to get flooded though luckily not enough for the boat to not be able to float anymore, though if another wave like that hit them…

Rose caught sight of something inside of the boat, floating amongst some of the rubbish that had washed aboard with the last wave. The object caused her to let go of Avery who herself watched as they passed the last buildings that belonged to San Francisco, the bridge being visible on their left.

"Doctor!" called Rose as she crawled back to Avery, holding an object in her hands. "I found something you might like!"

"What?" called the Doctor back, not looking back as he had to keep an eye on where he was steering the boat.

"Your sonic screwdriver!" called Rose back with a light laugh.

The Doctor looked back, a smile on his face as Rose held up the screwdriver in her hands. "Oh! Perfect! Give it to me!"

Rose crawled over to the Doctor and handed it to him. The moment he took it in his hands, he placed the end to the part of the boat where the steering wheel was attached to, pressing the button and letting the familiar sound of his screwdriver fill their ears. Avery looked back at the city as the Doctor fumbled with his screwdriver, seeing the skyscraper which her parents had been on collapsing, the ship now emerging from the ground where _Weyland Corporations_ had once stood. Her wet hair stuck to her face as she looked at San Francisco, the entire city collapsing as the ship emerged from the water. Though, as it did, it created a huge wave as the water that had been on top of the ship, slid off of it. The wave rolled towards them faster than the boat was going and her breath got caught in her throat as she watched it roll towards them.

"Aha!" exclaimed the Doctor, releasing the button on his screwdriver as the boat suddenly sped up, causing Rose and Avery to stagger slightly before looking back at the Doctor.

"What did you do!?" asked Avery, shocked as she saw that they were getting away from the huge wave, buying the three of them some more time as they started to near the airport on which her father had once worked.

At least what was left of the airport.

"Oh, just remodified the engine a little making it go a little faster than it originally could," said the Doctor, shrugging before planting a kiss on his sonic screwdriver; "I have missed you!" Quickly, he placed it back into his pocket where it belonged before continuing to steer the boat towards the end of the ocean.

The airport they were closing in on, the one where Tim had once worked on, was cracked in multiple places. Most likely from the earthquakes. Although half of the airport was under water, the other half was not and there, hundreds of people were stood, watching the city collapse. Military men were keeping the civilians away from the edge of the crack that had saved half of the airport from getting covered in water. The water wasn't supposed to have reached the airport at all. However, the earthquakes had made half of the landing area's surface sink down a few meter, hence the cracks in the concrete. Therefore, people could stand on one part of the airport, though not on the other part.

As they neared the edge, the military men pushed back the civilians enough to give some space on which Rose, Avery and the Doctor could climb up to. It was about five meters up, the edge where safety was, though the climb would take longer than it would take for the wave to hit them.

"Come on!" called the Doctor, pushing Rose towards the wall they'd have to climb while the Doctor looked over at Avery who stood up and jogged towards him as well, placing herself next to Rose on the wall as they both started to climb.

The Doctor watched Rose and Avery for a few seconds, turning his head ever so often to see if they'd make it or not. Which they wouldn't. However, they could get high enough to not be dragged down with the wave. Hopefully.

"Hurry!" called the Doctor, grabbing onto the wall and hauling himself up before placing his feet on the wall as well, starting to climb.

Military men were leaning over the edge, watching them as they climbed. Soon, two familiar voices were heard calling Avery's name, to which she paused her climbing in order to look up. Rose and the Doctor continued to climb though and soon, the Doctor was on the same level as Avery, which he didn't notice.

"Da'!" called Avery, smiling widely as Tim leaned over the edge as well, Emily joining him soon. "Mum!"

"Darling! Climb!" called Emily, her eyes flickering between the incoming wave and her daughter. "Hurry!"

Greg joined Tim and Emily as Avery continued to climb, seeing that the Doctor and Rose were near the edge already. Her heartbeat quickened as she realized that she had stalled for too long which in turn caused her hands to start shaking as panic overtook her. A cold breeze was touching her skin as well and since she was completely drenched, it made her feel even colder than normally. Soon, she found her fingers turning numb from the freezing breeze.

"Avery!" called the Doctor down to her as he realized that only Rose was being helped up by the military men. He paused, seeing the wave come closer and closer to them.

He was precisely over the level where the wave would most likely hit, though Avery wasn't. She looked up at him, her eyes wide as she heard the wave behind her. She realized that she wouldn't make it up and her eyes pleaded up to him to show her some kind of hope. Though he couldn't give her any. Instead, he let go of the wall with one of his hands, reaching down towards her although she was too far away, as if he hoped that Time Lords had some kind of hidden telekinetic ability that could make her start hoovering up to him.

Then, the wave hit the wall and the Doctor had to close his eyes as water splashed up against his face. Tim and Emily screamed at the top of their lungs as the wave hit against Avery, causing her to crash against the wall, the air pushing out of her lungs from the impact before the wave engulfed her.

"Avery!" called the Doctor.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Don't forget to let me know what you thought about the story by commenting!**


	12. Chapter 11, Rescues and Answers

**San Francisco's Secret**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Doctor Who, the BBC does. All I own are my own characters and my own plot (except for the part of the plot that's inspired by San Andreas… I don't own that movie either.)

* * *

 **Chapter 11  
** **Rescues and Answers**

As the Doctor rubbed the sea water away from his eyes, he looked down at where Avery had been clutching against the wall earlier, finding no one there. The wave had clashed against the wall and now, Avery was gone.

Rose joined Avery's parents in looking down over the edge, placing a hand over her mouth as she realized that Avery was nowhere to be seen.

"No…" said Tim as Emily pushed herself away from the edge, falling down to the floor as she screamed her lungs out. "Not again… no!"

Slowly, the water level sunk more and more to its ordinary level again. This caused the Doctor to look over at the city, seeing the alien ship now hovering over the spot where it had been buried before. Water filled the giant hole that had once been San Francisco which in turn caused the water level to fall drastically underneath of the Doctor. The ship was beautiful, though the Doctor couldn't appreciate its beauty at the moment as it had just taken away Avery from him. He felt a huge gap in one of his hearts which he found odd since he hadn't known Avery for more than a day yet still, she meant a lot to him. There was something more to Avery that the Doctor didn't know about and he had wanted to figure out what that was. Though now, he'd never get to do so.

Or…

A gasp was heard from the bottom where the sea level was still falling, Avery's head was now sticking up from the water. She was coughing up water, but she was alive. Her hands held a tight grip on the wall and as she regained her breath, she looked up at the Doctor before starting to climb again. The only thing the wave had done to her was make her glide downwards.

Tim called her name before he started to laugh hysterically while the military men started to clap their hands. This caused Emily to move back towards the edge, the sight before her causing her to gasp, her tears stopping.

"Thank you… Thank you so much," said Emily quietly, earning a look from Rose who simply thought she was thanking God. Though, she was slightly wrong there.

The Doctor started to laugh as well, waiting for Avery to reach him before he grabbed her shoulder, squeezing it tightly. She was out of breath, though still smiled over at him, nodding her head at him.

"We made it," she said with a smile.

"Yes we did and you were brilliant!" exclaimed the Doctor, earning a wide grin from Avery.

* * *

"And now?" asked Rose, a blanket wrapped around her shivering body, her mascara falling down her cheeks as if she had been crying. "Where are they going now?"

"Back home," said the Doctor as he stood next to her, his hands in his pockets as he watched the ship slowly fly upwards, away from the Earth. He didn't need a blanket as his Time Lord body could withstand a colder temperature. The only thing he had used the blanket that he had been given for was to dry his face a little along with his hands. "The other ship up there is going to escort this ship back to their planet where it'll be stored in a safe place where no one can touch it. Just like they want."

"The military men that tried to stop the ship from emerging;" started Greg as he was stood next to Tim and Emily who both held a firm grip on Avery, wrapping blanket after blanket around her; "What happened to them? They never returned."

The Doctor looked at him before sighing. "If they tried to stop it… I'm afraid they never got close enough to even begin shooting."

Greg lowered his gaze to the ground. "Shit man…"

"Talking about military," said Emily, turning her head towards Greg. "How'd you get out of the city?"

"Not on my own," said Greg, shaking his head. "When I lost the two of you, I bumped into three military men who were escaping as well. We helped each other. One thing led to the other and eventually I managed to get my foot in the recue team in order to find you two."

Emily looked at him for a while before letting go of Avery, placing a kiss to Greg's cheek. "Thank you."

"Yeah, man. Thank you," said Tim, earning a nod from Greg as Emily grabbed Avery again. "Without you…" he said though let the sentence die out as he looked down at Avery who simply stared out over the city, not noticing her father's look.

"It's okay," said Greg, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Really, it's okay. That's what friends do, ay?"

Tim smirked, nodding his head once before turning to the Doctor.

"Ah," started the Doctor as Tim opened his mouth. "You really don't have to thank us. We simply did what was necessary."

"But still… Avery could be dead without you two," said Emily, her arms wrapped around Avery as Tim let go of his daughter in order to let Emily simply hug her.

"Avery's a strong girl," said the Doctor, shrugging. "I'm sure she'd have survived without us as well."

"No," said Avery, managing to free herself from her mother's arms. "I wouldn't have survived alone. Richard left me when I was stuck in that car. He left me and had it not been for the two of you, I would've been dead by now. I would've been crushed by them."

She pointed towards the ship who started to move even faster up towards sky, leaving their sight with a flash of a lightning.

"He left you?" asked Emily and Tim at the same time, the both of them looking at each other after they did.

Avery didn't bother to answer her parents, instead she walked towards Rose and the Doctor.

"What are you going to do now?" asked Avery, earning a shrug from the Doctor while Rose simply looked at her fellow traveller.

"I honestly don't know. Find a job… somewhere to live," said the Doctor before sarcastically gagging. "Never thought I'd have to do that."

Avery smiled. "You can always stay with me and mum… maybe even dad if things turn out alright," she said as she looked back at her parents who were holding each other's hands, watching the three of them talking.

"Than-"

"The Doctor!?" called a man from the crowd of civilians behind them. "The Doctor and… Rose Tyler!?"

"What?" asked the Doctor silently as the man appeared from the crowd.

"The Doctor-"

"Yeah?" asked the Doctor, earning the attention of the man that had called their names. "That's us."

"Doctor, Miss Tyler. It's an honour to meet you," said the man, saluting towards them to which Rose and the Doctor simply raised an eyebrow. "I'm agent Owen Barker from Torchwood and I've come with a message to the both of you."

* * *

"Oh! That is fantastic!" called the Doctor after they had managed to push through the crowd of civilians, following the man from Torchwood as he lead them towards what he wanted to show them.

The Doctor and Rose both started to laugh happily as they saw the TARDIS standing there on a truck, several agents wearing dark suits standing around the truck with the TARDIS on it, seeming to be guarding it. Avery, Tim, Emily and Greg followed behind them, furrowing their brows as they saw the blue police box standing there.

"Not even a scratch!" called the Doctor as he ran up to his ship, running a hand over the doors.

"We can go back!" exclaimed Rose happily before the two travellers embraced each other, the Doctor spinning Rose around a few times before setting her back down on the ground.

There was a note attached to the doors of the TARDIS which Rose grabbed and read, her eyebrows furrowed.

"What does it say?" asked the Doctor, glancing at the people guarding the TARDIS.

"You should be more careful where you park this, Doctor. Greetings, JH," read Rose, turning to the Doctor who furrowed his brow.

He had an idea of who it was, though he simply kept that to himself, turning to Avery as Torchwood lowered the TARDIS, Rose and the Doctor to the ground. The two travellers exchanged a look before walking over to Avery, her parents and Greg.

"So, this is your ship?" asked Avery, looking at the TARDIS with raised eyebrows. "It's… small."

"Yeah," said the Doctor rubbing the back of his head. "Small…"

"So, you're leaving?" asked Avery, looking at Rose as she asked this, earning a nod from her.

"I suppose we are. After all, we don't belong here," said Rose.

Tim and Emily exchanged a look as they saw the police box.

"What about you?" asked Rose, a smile on her lips; "What are you going to do now?"

"Oh… I don't know," said Avery, shrugging as she kicked away some dirt with her foot. "Continue studying I think. I want to do what you two do. See the stars and explore new worlds."

"If that is what you want," said the Doctor, earning an excited look from Rose. "You could always come with us."

Avery's smile faded slightly, her gaze looking away from the Doctor and Rose and back at her parents who were simply watching her, having heard what the Doctor had asked her though not showing her any emotions about what they felt about the entire thing. She knew that she indeed wanted to do what they did, explore and travel the universe. Though, something inside of her told her to stay put; like a voice deep inside of her, telling her that she should wait until the next time they met before she joined them. If there was a next time. It was strange, the way Avery seemed to listen to this voice though at the same time, it felt wrong not to listen to this voice either. It made her feel like she would miss out on something back home if she went with the Doctor and Rose now and so, she made her final decision based on a hunch.

"I can't," she said, earning a saddened nod from Rose while the Doctor simply looked at her, locking his eyes with hers. "I'm sorry… Maybe… Maybe in a few years. For now, I want to stay at home with my family and simply be here, on Earth."

The Doctor nodded his head, not being able to deny the fact that he felt rather crestfallen about the fact that she had declined his offer. After all, there weren't a lot of humans which he found good enough to come with him. On the other hand, he did still have Rose who indeed did have a large piece of one of his hearts in her grasp, though he couldn't deny that Avery had managed to get a piece as well.

"Take care," said Rose, hugging Avery, water still dripping from her and Avery as they were both still soaked, especially Avery. "Good luck with your studies."

"Thanks," said Avery. "Good luck with your travels and do keep an eye on him for me."

"I will," grinned Rose before stepping aside, allowing the Doctor to say farewell to Avery.

He placed himself in front of Avery, his hands still in his pockets as he looked down at her with an unreadable look on his face. After having stared into each other's eyes for a while, a grin appeared on the Doctor's face before he placed his arms around her, lifting her up from the ground and spinning her around a few times. She laughed, a genuine smile appearing on her lips as he did so.

"Thank you," said Avery, her eyes flickering to Rose as well as the Doctor placed her back on the ground. "For everything."

"Nothing to thank us for," said the Doctor, shrugging as he placed his hands in his pockets again. "Couldn't leave all those people to die, now could we?"

Avery smiled again before stepping back. "I won't keep you for too long. You must be eager to return back home?"

The Doctor and Rose exchanged a look before linking their arms with each other, smiling widely. "Sure," said the Doctor, winking once at Avery before turning himself and Rose around, starting to walk towards the TARDIS.

"You might want to keep looking," said Rose before they entered their ship.

"Who was he?" asked Emily as she walked forwards, placing a hand on Avery's shoulder as to make sure she was still there while at the same time comforting Avery who one could see wanted to run after the Doctor, something inside of her pushing her towards him though at the same time also pushing her away.

"He was the Doctor," said Avery as the doors to the TARDIS closed behind the two companions. "And he saved our lives."

The TARDIS started to fade away, a wind blowing Avery's hair away from her face as the air around them was filled with the strange whooshing sound that the TARDIS made. Avery, Tim, Emily and Greg all looked at the place where the TARDIS had been standing with wide eyes while the people from Torchwood barely even reacted, almost as if they had seen that happening every day.

"And, he's a Time Lord."

* * *

 **In the TARDIS, the vortex**

"Are we ever going to see her again?" asked Rose, leaning against the railing as the Doctor pulled a lever, glancing over at his companion.

"I don't know," said the Doctor, leaning against the control panel as he looked out into nothingness, Avery's blue eyes and beautiful smile appearing in front of him suddenly. "I hope so. Though it's hard to actually meet one person twice when you have so many different places to go to!"

Rose bit her bottom lip, a smile appearing on her lips as the Doctor asked: "Where do you wanna go next?" with a grin playing on his lips.

"Home," said Rose, earning a roll of the Doctor's eyes to which Rose simply giggled. "I have loads of washing that needs to be done! Besides, after this crazy adventure, I think we both need a little time off."

"Urgh…" said the Doctor, pressing a few buttons and entering the coordinates and time to which they wanted to go. "I don't like time offs."

For a moment, the room was quiet, the only sound coming from the TARDIS itself as it started to fly through the vortex towards where they wanted to go.

"What made the TARDIS choose this place? Did it sense the ship wanting to get away?" asked Rose, earning another glance of the Doctor as he ran around the control panels.

"I reckon it's because the entire thing was never supposed to actually happen. The ship had been buried there a long time, yes. But I also remember a future in which that very ship was discovered by you lot, a picture being taken from it and put out in a museum. It never moved nor did anything odd at all, though the government still held an eye on it, not wanting anything to happen. So, when the ship started to move, the TARDIS sensed that something was amiss. She brought us here in order to stop it, though I highly doubt we could've," explained the Doctor before Rose held up a hand, a confused look on her face. "The only question I have is… what made the ship move in the first place?"

"Hang on… if you've already seen proof of that all of that is not supposed to happen… how come you still remember it now that it did happen?" asked Rose, earning a look from the Doctor as he scratched the back of his head.

"Oh… it's about timey... Stuff," said the Doctor, earning a look from Rose before she simply shrugged the strange sentence off.

"At least we saved a lot of people," said Rose, the Doctor grinning as she said this.

"Oh yes! Boo-ya!" said the Doctor before frowning. "Oh… I didn't like that… not at all."

Quickly, his frown turned into a goofy smiled as he pulled a lever at the same time as he said; "Alons-y!"

* * *

 **Oakland, California, USA**

Avery sat down on the porch that led to her mother's house. Both her parents were inside, inspecting the damage that had been done to the house by the earthquakes. Avery had decided not to join them and her mother had given her the backpack she had been carrying with her that entire day. Now, the sun was on its way down on a new California. A California without its big city San Francisco. Exactly what was going to happen to the gaping hole left after those aliens was to be announced by President Lewis in a couple of days. Although things had been bad that day and Avery had gotten herself hurt, she had also found that the day was a start of a new life for her. Her parents were back together and Richard hadn't even shown himself yet. Either he was too much of a coward to show his face to the people whose child he had abandoned or he had never gotten out of the city before it was destroyed. Either way, Avery didn't care about him nor did she miss him. They could make it without his money.

With a curious mind, Avery opened the bag her mother had handed her, looking down in it in order to see what she had brought with her when she had fled the place with Tim.

She found multiple shirts and one pair of jeans that had been tucked down into it, all of them belonging to Emily. She also found a couple of pictures and a bag of bread which she must have managed to grab on her way out of the house. With a grin playing on her lips, she took out the bag of lady equipment necessary in case they'd be gone for longer than a month before she placed it beside her on the heap of clothes and the loaf of bread. She was about to put the bag aside and put the things back in when something inside of her stirred. It felt like a movement inside of her heart and for a moment she thought that all the adrenaline she had felt pumping through her veins that day might have damaged her heart. Though the movement didn't hurt and it felt more like something mental than something physical.

 _Avery…_

The voice sounded like a whisper and she turned around, expecting her mother to be standing there. But she wasn't.

 _Avery…_

Again, it sounded like a whisper but she couldn't make out from where the voice was coming from. It seemed to come from all over the place.

"Mum!" she called. "Did you call my name!?"

"No, sweety! We're nearly done here!" called her mother from inside the house.

Avery furrowed her brow. If it hadn't been from inside the house, and it hadn't been Greg who was placed further away from her by the car, smoking a cigarette, than who had it been?

 _The bag…_

Her gaze slowly fell down to the bag again, seeing something silvery at the bottom. She wondered why she hadn't seen that before and even when she looked at it, her mind was pressing her to think that it was a simple watch and nothing more. It felt odd to even touch it, as if she wasn't supposed to.

 _Don't open me yet…_

With a gasp, she jumped as the voice sounded even clearer now. It was the voice of a woman - _that_ she was sure of - and it sounded so familiar. Like her mother's voice, but still different. The pocket watch itself was a strange mix of silver and gold with odd circular symbols on one side. They felt familiar and she soon realized why she recognized the watch. It was hers. A little thing that she had found on the beach when she was eight years old.

She smiled at the happy memory of getting to swim with her father and playing hide and seek with him, her mother watching them from the beach with a smile on her face. Back then, everything had been so much better. She wondered why her parents acted so strange after that day. She couldn't recall something bad happening that made them want to avoid each other. Then again, she didn't remember much from that day.

 _Keep me safe…_ the voice said followed by a strange whisper; _TARDIS…_

The voice started to melt in with her thoughts and soon, she started to forget that she had even heard it. Instead, she placed it in the pocket of her jacket, her hand resting on it as it lay there while the happy memories of that day replayed in her mind.

 _Avery, keep me safe…_

 _Time Lady…_

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Don't forget to let me know what you thought about the story by commenting!**


	13. Book II: An Old Friend

**Sacrifices**

* * *

 **Book II: an Old Friend**

 **Plot:** On Martha's request, the Doctor finds a spaceship that they can visit. It's supposed to be a normal visit to show Martha a way that a spaceship can look in the future. Though, nothing is ever simple when it comes to travelling with the Doctor and they soon find themselves tangled in a strange mystery involving missing people. What is it that is taking these people and where are they being taken? Is it the crew doing this or is the strange rumours about a monster kidnapping people that is the answer to this mystery? And are the kidnappings the only strange things happening on the ship?

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Doctor Who! The BBC does! I only own my own characters and the idea of this story. The name Weyland and his entire company is inspired by the Weyland company in the Alien movies though it doesn't have all that much to do with those movies. I've kind of made it my own.

* * *

 **A/N:** So, what did you think of Book I? I tried my best and although it didn't quite turn out to be as I had imagined it would, I'm still proud of it. The next adventure the Doctor is going on, where they'll meet Avery again, will not be inspired by any movie. Instead, this is entirely from my own imagination and I hope it will be interesting to read it! And yes, I have skipped to Martha. But my idea is that I will have Avery tag along with the Doctor soon and she didn't really fit in series 2.


	14. Chapter 1, Nine Years Later

**An Old Friend**

* * *

 **~Chapter 1~  
Nine Years Later  
**

"Ready?" asked the Doctor, looking up at Martha as she walked down the stairs towards the control panel of the TARDIS, a fresh pair of clothes on.

"I'm ready," said Martha with a large grin on her face while the Doctor clapped his hands together.

"Great! Where do you want to go this time? Future, past, present-"

"I want to visit a ship. An actual spaceship," said Martha, earning a confused look from the Doctor.

"You're on one," said he, raising an eyebrow at her as he looked at her with genuine confusion in his eyes.

Martha chuckled lightly as she shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest. "No, Doctor. A spaceship with a cargo bay, a crew and… well, I don't know! Like something from Star Trek."

At this, the Doctor scoffed as he pushed a few buttons on the control panel, furrowing his brow. "Don't listen to her, baby…" he muttered to which Martha raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"The future it is then!" exclaimed the Doctor, ignoring Martha's question as he pulled a lever, a grin spreading over his face as the familiar whooshing sound was heard throughout the TARDIS.

Immediately, Martha grabbed a hold of the railing as the ship started to shake just like it usually did when the Doctor drove it out of the Time Vortex to a new place. It wasn't until it had landed and the Doctor had pressed yet another set of buttons that Martha dared to let go and stand up straight again. When she looked at the Doctor, he placed his hands in his pockets and gestured towards the doors of the TARDIS to which Martha smiled widely. She quickly turned around and ran towards the doors, leaving an amused looking Doctor who calmly followed behind her.

She was about ready to gasp when she realized that they had landed in a strange looking room filled with boxes and strange looking metal parts that were used for something unknown to Martha. There were no people and the room was rather small as well.

"Wow… it looks really… interesting," said Martha, faking a smile as she looked around at the storage room.

"Don't worry," started the Doctor as he closed the TARDIS doors behind him. "This is just a part of the cargo bay. Though, you did say you wanted to see that."

Martha rolled her eyes at the Doctor before she followed him towards what looked like an elevator. The Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to open the doors to the elevator before he and Martha entered it. It was a narrow elevator and their arms were pressed against each other when they stood in it. Martha watched the Doctor press one of the two only buttons that existed on the panel next to the doors and immediately, the doors closed with a strange swishing noise.

"So, where are we?" asked Martha, looking at the Doctor who simply grinned down at her.

The ride only took a few seconds and as an answer to Martha's question, the doors opened, revealing a huge hall. The ceiling was at least three stories above their heads and from the ceiling, a strange hologram was playing showing clouds and a blue sky. Underneath those clouds, a long hallway was located, the hallway being at least three streets broad. In the very middle, a few trees were placed in large pots. In between these trees, there were tables and chairs placed. At some places, there were even a couple of swings placed for children to use and indeed, there were children using these swings as well. On each side that was facing the outside, lodgings existed. They were made of the same metal as the rest of the ship though they weren't as high as the ceiling itself. They were simple, one-story buildings all connected with each other and although they simply looked like one building, the multiple doors showed that there were multiple lodgings. Everywhere, people were scattered either walking or sitting down. In front of them, a couple of children were running around, playing and laughing. It all felt rather bizarre to Martha as she had expected something from Star Trek, though that was indeed not what she had found.

"The year is 2587," said the Doctor, standing next to her and watching the sky above them, his face not mirroring the same amazement as Martha's though still holding a slight amusement to it. "This ship is taking all of these people that you can see here to a new planet. In fact, it's one of many ships that is taking people to a new planet. Though I'm not a hundred percent sure of where this ship is going. Could be any of the first planets that the Human race gets in contact with."

"This is… amazing… is that a sky up there?" asked Martha, furrowing her brow and pointing upwards.

"Yes - Well, kind off. It's a hologram to make the people feel a little more at ease. After all, it doesn't take a couple of hours until you arrive. It can take months even years depending on what planet it is they're going to. In order for the people to not lose their minds or feel trapped, they use a hologram of the actual sky back at home to make the people feel better about the trip."

"Years?" asked Martha, looking at the Doctor with surprised eyes. "Can't they go into warp or something like that?"

The Doctor chuckled at her question. "Spaceships aren't advanced enough to go faster than this. Oh, and it's not called warp."

Martha nodded her head, looking at little confused at his last words though deciding to not ask about it. "Well… it looks rather interesting."

They started to walk, watching the people they passed by. To Martha, they looked completely normal except for the strange clothing that some of them wore. All of them seemed to be very kind to each other though the familiar and with children weren't the only people that were there. There also seemed to be men and women who wore more formal clothes. Most of these people were sitting on a chair, holding a screen in front of them and seeming to be working on something very important.

"So, it's civilians and… what, politicians?" asked Martha.

"Yup," said the Doctor, his hands in his pockets as he looked around himself. "You see, these people are the very first people to go out there and meet other species on their own planets. The original plan was to only bring representatives – ambassadors - of the Earth though after a while, those plans changed and some species agreed on letting a small colony of Humans stay on their planet for a couple of years to just teach them what it was like to live on different planets."

"Wait," said Martha. "Are these people colonizers?"

The Doctor nodded, looking at her as they continued to walk.

"They'll only stay for a few years originally but there are most certainly people that will stay behind for longer. This is the first step that the Humankind makes into the universe. They're expanding, becoming bigger. Some of these people will even fall in love on that other planet," said the Doctor.

"Huh," said Martha. "But this is just, what, five hundred years into the future."

"Yeah. It takes a few more thousands of years until they go any further than this… but it's still the first step," said the Doctor, shrugging.

When the sudden sound of a bell was heard, the Doctor and Martha both stopped walking and looked at each other. The bell rang two times and as it did, everyone around them stopped whatever they were doing to listen to the bell. After having rung, everyone started to get up from where they were or walking outside of their houses if they had been inside, before starting to walk in the direction the Doctor and Martha had been walking. None of them seemed in the least surprised by this bell and the way the children seemed happy, both the Doctor and Martha figured it was something normal.

"What was that?" asked Martha before the sound of a man speaking was heard echoing through the hallway.

 _"Good afternoon, citizens of Weyland 002. It is now six o'clock and the doors to the kitchen have just opened. As you all know, the doors will be open until eight o'clock,"_ said the man before sighing quite loudly though no one seemed to be listening to the man except for the two time travellers. _"The weather on Latreille is cloudy though still tropically warm. Therefore, be prepared for a warm night. If there's any questions or reports, please contact the nearest guard. Thank you."_

The Doctor and Martha looked at each other. "Fancy a meal?" asked the Doctor with a grin before following the people to where they were walking.

* * *

"If there's any questions or reports, please contact the nearest guard. Thank you," finished the captain before placing the microphone back in its place on the desk in front of him.

With yet another, deep sigh, the captain rubbed his hands over his face before leaning back in his chair. On both of his sides, two of his closest and most important crewmembers were seated at their desks on the bridge while, in front of them, a large, glass window was located. However, space could not be seen through that glass as it was shielded which it was most of the times. The glass was not yet tough enough to withstand the cold from outside nor was it tough enough to withstand the hit from debris. In fact, no part of the ship was tough enough to withstand it, though the windows were the parts that were the most breakable. Therefore, there were a set of rules regarding the windows in which it was said that only a member of the actual working crew, not the civilians, was allowed to open the windows and that only for less than ten minutes. Although the captain would've loved to ignore those rules since, if a debris hit their ship, a piece of titanium in front of a window wouldn't help them a lot to gain their course back nor to close whatever microscopic hole that would appear in the hull. In other words, the captain was for to simply have the windows opened so that they at least could see something of the vast and unexplored space around them such as the stars, the comets and perhaps even the solitude light from an unknown planet in orbit around one of these stars. After all, that was what the captain had signed up for.

The man next to him shifted in his seat with a deep breath, placing his feet on the desk in front of him before taking out the Swiss Knife he always carried around with him in his pocket. With a bored look on his face, he started to peel away whatever dirt he had gotten under his nails with the blade of his knife, glancing at his captain as he noticed him staring.

"Dinner soon, oui?" said the man, his thick French accent still surprising the captain even after a year out in space with the man. A smile was on his face and it was evident that the man was trying to make the captain feel better, though it didn't quite work.

"I'll be eating in my quarters," said the captain before standing up. "Computer, move authority number 004, captain Ivan Holmes, to desk in quarters."

 _"Authority moved."_

"Mais, Cap-" started the man though the look on his captain's face told him to close his mouth again.

When the doors closed behind the captain, the two people left on the bridge looked at each other.

"He shouldn't have agreed on coming out here if he was going to have a hard time with it," said the woman that was seated on the desk to the right of the captain's desk.

She wore glasses and her blonde, short hair was tied back in a bun. Although she wore the same uniform as the rest of the people, it looked different on her as she had tried to make it more feminine. Instead of it simply being a uniform that looked like something a builder would wear, she had cut the arms of the uniform off while she let the uniform have some buttons undone at the top.

"He has problems at home, non?" asked the man, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah… he has," replied the woman. "I'm… I'm going to go check if he is okay."

She stood up from her desk. "After all, we can't be wandering around on our own now, can we?"

"Katy, do not speak like that," said the man as he sat upright again, placing his knife on the desk. "There is probably a logical explanation to why these things are happening."

"Yeah," said Katy, shaking her head as she walked past the man. "Laurent, when you come up with a logical explanation to how this is happening, tell me and I'll walk around here on my own so much that my feet will start to ache."

Laurent watched her as she walked away from the bridge, sighing as the doors closed behind her. Now, he was all alone there with nothing to do nor no one to talk to. Quickly, he pressed the white button on his desk, calling the one person he knew would have some time to talk to him.

* * *

The atmosphere down in the engine room was moist and warm. It lay right underneath of the bridge which was a reason to why the bridge always was a few degrees warmer than the rest of the ship. The warmth of the engines moved upwards into the bridge and although the three people working there didn't mind it, Avery minded the heat in the engine room quite a lot. Wiping away the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand, she walked over to the left engine, opening the panel there and checking that everything was alright in there before ending her shift.

She had removed the top of her uniform and was walking around in her linen though it was still far too hot for her liking and she just wanted to finish her shift as quickly as possible. Sighing a relieved sigh when she saw that no circuits had fried and that no strange things had happened to the left engine either, she stood up. The right engine was already checked and now she was done with her shift for that evening.

Putting the top part of her uniform back on, she walked towards the doors and quickly exited the engine room, finding herself in a cool and narrow hallway that went on and on until one was at the back of the ship. Along it, there were several doors all leading to the various storage rooms where spare parts and food was stored. It actually only was Avery and some of the cooks that came down there to fetch either food or spare parts and therefore, it was a very dimly lit and creepy hallway. In fact, Avery hadn't even been in all the storage rooms yet as most of them weren't to be opened until the return trip so that they had the same amount of spare parts for the return trip.

A sudden beeping noise was heard from her earpiece and she, recognizing the beep, walked over to a panel on the wall, pressing a white button on it before saying; "Go ahead."

 _"Chief Engineer, I require your attention in the kitchen. There have been reports of a lonely head of security man that needs some female company."_

"Okay," chuckled Avery. "First of all, euw, Laurent."

 _"You know you want it."_

"No, I don't," said Avery with an amused look on her face. "And second of all; I'm headed there now. Table for two?"

 _"Always."_

She let go of the white button and started to walk towards the elevators, a smile gracing her lips. Laurent had always been the one person that wanted to talk to her and since her job was quite lonely, her being the only engineer on the ship, she couldn't help but feel excited about every meal where she got to talk to Laurent again. They were the youngest crewmembers on board and had become friends on the first day of training. Although he had at first tried to flirt with her constantly, he soon gave up on actual flirting when he realized she was not going to become interested in him and so only continued with teasingly flirting with her whenever he saw the opportunity. He was a funny young man though could cross the line sometimes with his constant joking and flirting.

Nevertheless, he was a good friend and the only actual friend she had. Although she could talk to everyone, there was still a different relationship between the people she only talked to and the people that were her actual friends.

Had she not been deep in thought about the upcoming meal while she was on her way towards the elevator, she might've seen the person calling for help on the other side of one of the storage doors. And she might've also seen a strange, coal black hand grab the person from behind before jumping up towards the ceiling, bringing the person with it.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I'd appreciate it a lot if you would maybe leave a comment if you have a question or if you want to tell me something that's bad or good.**


	15. Chapter 2, Missing People

**An Old Friend**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who. All rights go to the BBC. However, I do own my own characters and their stories!**

* * *

 **~Chapter 2~  
Missing People  
**

The Doctor and Martha stood in the line for dinner. From the looks of it, the room they were currently in could hold up to at least a thousand people though the group of people that were on board were probably only a couple of hundred. While the food smelled delicious, the people around them seemed to be complaining a lot about the food. Apparently, they had gotten the same food three days in a row now and people were starting to get bored with it.

In front of them, a family of four was standing while behind them, an elderly couple was standing. The youngest child in the family in front of them hadn't stopped complaining about the food ever since they had arrived at the kitchen and when the mother had finally told him to stop, she had at the same time explained exactly why they got the same food three days in a row. For Martha, it had been interesting and she had listened intently, which was more than the young boy that had been complaining had done. Apparently, it was because the kitchen staff cooked for a thousand people in one day so that they, after that, could take it a little easier as they wouldn't have to stand in the kitchen the entire week and work themselves to death. After all, almost every single cook was supposed to stay behind and had only gotten the job because they hadn't gotten a ticket as a civilian. The job they did was not something that every single one of the wanted to do.

The Doctor, on the other hand, was listening intently to the elderly couple that was standing behind him and his companion. They were talking about something different then food and it had caught the Doctor's attention for a very good reason.

"Well, what do we do now?" asked the woman with a thick Spanish accent. "After all, we can't stay in a house where there's only the two of us."

"Maybe they'll come back," said the man, a Scottish accent dripping off his words.

"You know they don't," said the woman again. "Remember what Patty told us? She had to move in with two complete strangers after her roommates disappeared into thin air. That was two months ago and they haven't returned yet."

"Honestly, you don't believe that they are actually gone? I mean, we're on a ship for God's sake," said the man followed by a dry laugh. "I'm sure that they've just been taken in for a questioning by the crew or something. You know Bob had to go through something like that in order for the crew to know that everyone was feeling alright."

"For two months?" asked the woman before the Doctor turned to speak to them.

"Sorry to interrupt," said the Doctor, plastering a huge smile on his face. "I'm the Doctor and I'm here to check on you lot to see if everything is alright or not," he said while flashing is psychic paper.

"Oh! A health and safety inspector," said the old lady, smiling widely at the Doctor as her eyes had flashed over the psychic paper. The old man, however, didn't look as pleased as she did which the Doctor immediately noted.

"I couldn't help but hear about you talk about these disappearances. When did they start?" asked the Doctor, raising an eyebrow as the man seemed to look rather shocked about the fact that he didn't know this piece of information.

"The crew doesn't even know about this?" asked the man before scoffing. "This is insane."

"Oh, no, no," said the Doctor. "We know, it's just that we want to see when the people think it started."

"How odd," said the man before the lady hushed him, smiling sweetly at the Doctor.

"Two months ago this all started. People would be taken during night-time without any trace of assault or anything. Their beds would just be empty in the morning. Believe me, I know. Both our roommates disappeared two nights ago."

"Really?" asked the Doctor, looking only at the lady now as he realized that she was the one that was being the most talkative and helpful.

"Now, _Doctor_ , does that mean that we have to move in with someone else?" asked the lady.

The Doctor pursed his lips slightly, trying to come up with something to say. "I'll have to talk to my co-workers about that," he said quickly before continuing with the questions; "Was there really nothing out of the ordinary around the place where they were taken?"

The elderly couple shook their heads. "Nothing out of the ordinary, no."

"And you have no idea of where the people are taken?" asked Martha, suddenly joining the conversation after having heard the Doctor's conversation with the two elderly.

"I was hoping the crew would have a clue of it," said the man bitterly.

"We have speculations," said the Doctor while Martha huffed slightly at the man's rude tone. "Though that's confidential at the moment."

"There are always speculations or _rumours_ of where they are taken," said Martha, looking straight at the man.

"Well-" started the man.

"Of course they're only strange rumours," interrupted the lady.

"Probably just some kid who saw some shadow in the dark," continued the man while both seemed to feel rather nervous about telling them the truth.

"But there are some _rumours_ going that there was a large monster that had come in the middle of the night and entered one of the houses. The morning after, two people had gone missing from that house," said the lady.

Both Martha and the Doctor exchanged looks with each other. "Where is this house?"

"It's one of the now abandoned houses at the very end of the Path," said the lady, gesturing towards the large pair of doors that led back into the long corridor where the people lived on this ship.

"Actually, all those houses are abandoned because the people have gone missing. After the people have moved in together with each other, most houses have simply become empty… and to think that the people chosen were just the right amount of people to actually fill the entire Path," said the man, shaking his head.

"Thank you very much, sir," said the Doctor, shaking the man's hand before doing the same to the lady. "Ma'am."

"I hope you lot find those people soon!" said the man. "We're supposed to be preparing for our new lives, not worry about this," the man said.

* * *

"You eat like a pig," giggled Avery before throwing her unused napkin at Laurent's face who immediately pursed his lips, grabbing the napkin and placing it back on the table.

"How mature of you," he replied before smirking at her giggling form.

The canteen was empty of people except for Laurent and Avery. Avery had been done with eating for quite some time now though she had stayed behind to wait for Laurent to finish his dinner. He was now at his third portion of food and although the kitchen had already closed, he had still managed to grab a little bit of food before they had removed it from him, the kitchen staff scolding his appetite with accusing looks to which Avery and Laurent had only laughed.

Suddenly, Laurent placed his cutlery on the table before pressing two fingers to his earpiece, a serious look on his face.

"Well then, go take a look," said Laurent. "Inform me when you're there."

Avery raised an eyebrow before she lifted her feet up to rest on the chair next to her, leaning back in the chair with a sigh. The both of them were technically still on duty though since their shift only lasted for thirty minutes after dinner was over, they usually never returned to their stations after dinner since they thought it was quite unnecessary. The ship was well built and if Avery simply checked the engines once a day, they'd keep on going for at least twelve hours without her having to do anything with them. Meanwhile, Laurent only ever had to reply to questions from the guards stationed all over the ship or take a look on the camera feed. Though this was something he could do from all over the ship since there everywhere were screens where the crew could log in and do multiple things such as check the camera feed or contact other crewmembers. When not used, the logo of Weyland swirled around on the screens; a large W glowing with a green light.

"What was it?" asked Avery as she fiddled with the end of her hair, having let her hair loose since she now was kind of off-duty.

"A sensor alarmed," replied Laurent before pushing his plate away from him with a sigh before mirroring Avery's stance, putting his feet on the chair next to him and leaning back in the chair, taking out his Swiss knife from his pocket and twirling it around his fingers skilfully.

"Where?" asked Avery.

"Down in the storage rooms," said Laurent. "As usual."

"Has to be something wrong with those sensors… Perhaps I should take a look at them tomorrow?" asked Avery, earning a nod from Laurent.

"That would've been a good idea if it wasn't one of the sensors inside of the locked storages," said Laurent, earning a confused look from Avery. "I know; sinistre."

"That's impossible," said Avery before sighing. "I'll talk to Holmes tomorrow about giving me the password so I can check those sensors out. It's annoying for you lot to always get false alarms."

"Strange though since Weyland technology should not have these bugs," said Laurent, staring into Avery's eyes as chills were sent up her spine.

"Stop it," said Avery, pointing a finger at him. "Ghosts don't exist."

At this, Laurent laughed, throwing his head back as he did so before looking back at her. An unamused look appeared on her face as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Have I never told you the story of when I got lost in les Catacombes de Paris?" asked Laurent, smirking as he nonchalantly started to removed dirt from underneath of his nails with the knife he held in his hands.

"Yes. Multiple times. And I don't believe you," said Avery. "There's no way to get lost there anymore. They've found every single path down there."

"Oui, but I still got lost in a part of les catacombes that wasn't a part of the tour," said Laurent.

"Then why'd you go there?" asked Avery, smirking at Laurent's look.

"I was young."

Avery rolled her eyes. The last time she had heard that story was when Laurent was still trying to get inside her panties and he had told her about how it had happened only two years ago and that he had had to run away from a ghost. The idea of seeing Laurent run away from shadows was quite amusing to Avery and she couldn't help but snicker slightly at that thought.

"I was," said Laurent, thinking she was laughing at what he had said.

"Whatever. Shall we?" asked Avery, earning a nod from Laurent before the two of them stood up, grabbing their plates and putting them on the cart where the dishes were supposed to be placed after one was done with eating.

As they walked through the corridors towards their quarters, Laurent once again pressed two fingers to his earpiece. After he had heard the report from the guards he had sent that way, he sighed and shook his head.

"Another false alarm. My men found nothing down there," said Laurent to Avery.

"Okay, that settles it. I'll definitely talk to Holmes tomorrow," said Avery before they stopped in front of the door that led into her quarters. "Good night, Bris."

"Night, ma belle," replied Laurent before continuing to walk towards his own quarters while Avery stepped inside of her own quarters.

With a sigh, she threw off her uniform, leaving her only in a top and her panties, before flopping down on the small couch, sighing. She had wanted to go out to space and go on adventures. Though on this ship, all she ever saw was the inside of the ship and the engines. The windows were constantly sealed making it impossible to see the space outside of the ship. She wanted to see the stars!

Perhaps she should've gone with the Doctor when she had the chance.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I'd appreciate it a lot if you would maybe leave a comment if you have a question or if you want to tell me something that's bad or good.**


	16. Chapter 3, Nighttime

**An Old Friend**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who. All rights go to the BBC. However, I do own my own characters and their stories!**

* * *

 **~Chapter 3~  
Nighttime  
**

Martha watched as the Doctor entered the second abandoned house. All of the houses were built together, meaning that there were no gaps between the different houses though at the same time, each house was uniquely decorated and even the rooms were placed on different locations. She found that each house had a total of at least four room. One living room, one bathroom and two bedrooms. Though, the first house had had five rooms; three bedrooms. Most likely, it depended on the amount of people that lived in each house and whether or not they were related; a family, or not. Since each house had to contain four people, even non related or strangers could have to live together on the ship. It surprised Martha that they had managed to make the chambers where the people slept look unique though everything on the ship amazed Martha. She had so many questions to ask the Doctor but he looked busy and he had that look in his eyes, the look that told Martha that there was something odd happening on that ship which the Doctor had to investigate.

The Time Lord ran around the second house, sniffing the different objects, touching almost each surface and scanning the beds with his sonic screwdriver twice before he straightened his back and looked back at Martha who simply watched him. It was dimly lit in the house since no lamps were turned on nor could they be turned on. Martha even found it a little chilly inside and she just wanted to get out again, to go see the people that lived on the ship and maybe learn more about why they wanted to go and live on a different planet.

"Do you see anything odd?" asked the Doctor.

"Why are you asking me?" asked Martha. "It's just an abandoned house."

"Yes, but do you see anything that's out of the ordinary?" asked the Doctor.

"Uh…" she said, looking around at the room she was in before shaking her head. "Apart from the cold, no. There's nothing wrong here."

"The cold, yes. Why is it so cold?" said the Doctor, walking over to stand next to Martha.

"What do you think took those people?" asked Martha, knowing that this was what was causing the Doctor to feel a little uneasy about the place. Frankly, it made her feel uneasy as well. These people couldn't have gone away since there weren't any places for them to go. After all, outside of the ship, there was just space. One could not possibly have gotten out there.

"I don't know," said the Doctor. "But I do know that they've turned off electricity in these houses. Besides, did you hear what the captain said during his little message?"

Martha shook her head. Of course, she had listened. But she didn't know what he was walking about specifically.

"Are you talking about the tropical warmth thing he said? Because, I'm not feeling it," said Martha, shaking her head at the Doctor.

"Well, that's probably because they've turned the power off in here… No, I meant the guards. He said that if anyone had any questions, one should go and talk to a guard," said the Doctor. "Have you seen any?"

Slowly, Martha shook her head; "Wait, are you saying there's something wrong with the crew? That the crew is taking the people?"

"I'm not saying anything," said the Doctor silently. "You are. And it's a good thought."

Quickly, the Doctor pushed past Martha and walked outside again. He staggered backwards slightly as he exited the house; "Blimey!" he exclaimed. "It's hot out here!"

Martha, who had been shivering indoors, gasped slightly when she shifted to stand next to her fellow traveller, taking of her jacket. "That's odd. Maybe they want to save power and therefore they've shut the power off."

"And that's why they've taken the people as well? To save power? Nah, I doubt it," said the Doctor to himself before he started to walk to the house next doors, lights turned on inside of that house; "But, I'm quite sure that there's a very reasonable reason to why these people are gone."

"I hope so," muttered Martha as she followed him, ignoring the fact that he had been talking to himself. "Where are we going?"

"It's nearly night-time," said the Doctor, pointing upwards towards the ceiling at the same time as he stopped to look back at Martha.

When Martha looked up, she saw the holographic sky turning into a dark, red colour. It reminded her a lot of the sunset at home, on Earth, though it still didn't quite look the same. Probably because of the lack of sun. Clouds could be seen a little here and there though they looked dark and gloomy, like clouds that were about the spill rain.

"Time for bed," said the Doctor, knocking three times on the door he was standing in front of.

"What, can't we sleep in the TARDIS?" asked Martha.

"And miss the possible chance of seeing whatever creature is lurking about here?" asked the Doctor, glancing at Martha with amused eyes.

"I thought you said it was the crew grabbing those people," said Martha as footsteps were heard on the other side of the door.

"I didn't say anything. You said it," he replied before the door opened.

The old lady from earlier stood there in the doorway, a bewildered look on her face. "Doctor?"

"Hey! Sorry to bother you but since your roommates are gone, I believe you have two empty beds, correct?" asked the Doctor.

The lady nodded her head, a confused look on her face.

"I'm afraid we're going to have to use those for this night. I have reasons to believe that another kidnapping is going to happen this night and I would like to stay here to keep an eye open for whatever is kidnapping people," he said, the lady seeming rather bewildered by what the Doctor had said and Martha couldn't help but feel just as confused as the old lady. After all, he hadn't told her any of this.

"Just for tonight though," said the lady before stepping to the side, letting Martha and the Doctor inside.

* * *

Avery tossed and turned in her bed. Her eyes were closed and she was asleep, though she was dreaming an awful dream. In her dream, she was running through a wondrous city shaped by architectures who most likely had seen far too many science fiction movies. Everywhere around her, people were screaming and crying, running away from the same thing she was running from. Things were falling down from the sky. Things that she could only describe as bombs as each building those things touched seemed to explode into burning flames. With fear in her heart she reached a tall building and she entered it. From time to time, she saw two other people running with her though they seemed to be ghosts. When she did see them, they looked just like her parents.

Her feet carried her up a spiral staircase made out of pure glass and soon, she found herself in an almost empty room with only two strange things standing in it. Both were machines though the one her eyes seemed to be drawn to was the machine that came with a small cot. Above the cot, a strange helmet was hanging from the ceiling and all of a sudden, she found herself putting the helmet on. That was when an excruciating pain filled her entire body which also caused her to awaken.

Sitting up in bed, her sheets on the floor and a cold sweat covering her entire body, she panted heavily. With quick footsteps, she walked over to the small screen accompanied with only a small white button. Pushing the button, she cleared her throat once before saying; "Computer, locate Doctor Lang."

 _"Doctor Lang is in sickbay."_

With a relieved sigh, Avery put on her uniform again, not bothering to fix her hair or make herself look descent enough to show her face outside of her quarters. Instead, she simply left her quarters looking like a mess and started to jog over to Doctor Lang. This was what he had told her to do whenever she experienced a nightmare. After all, it was still in the middle of the night and her shift wouldn't start for six more hours. She needed some more sleep but she knew that if she fell asleep now, she would get back into that strange nightmare of hers and she did not want that. The feelings she felt while dreaming about that were awful and she just wanted to have a peaceful night's sleep. She needed something that could make her fall asleep without dreaming and Doctor Lang had just the right concoction that she needed.

The doors to the sickbay opened with a swoosh and she entered, still panting. Doctor Lang, a man in his mid-forties was standing around a microscope. He looked over at her with a panicked look though calmed down as he saw that it was just Avery.

"Lieutenant Parsons," said Lang, placing himself in front of the microscope, seeming to be shielding it from Avery's view. Though she didn't think twice about it.

"I had another nightmare," said Avery with a sigh.

The doctor gestured towards a chair standing next to a table filled with medical equipment and Avery sat down on it, watching as Lang lifted another chair over to her and sat down in front of her. He sat down on it with the chair's back facing Avery so that he could lean his arms and chin on the backrest of the chair, watching Avery as she once again described the dream to him.

"I'm telling you, doctor Lang-"

"Scott," said the doctor, earning a nod from Avery.

"I'm telling you, Scott, this dream means something. Ever since I left home I've been dreaming about the same thing… like my unconscious mind is trying to tell me something," said Avery.

"And what do you think it's trying to tell you?" asked Scott, narrowing his eyes slightly as he continued to inspect each and every emotion that overcame Avery's face.

"I have no idea," said Avery quietly, looking down at her hands.

"Do you want something so you can sleep the rest of the night?" asked Scott, earning a nod of Avery's head.

Quickly, he stood up from the chair and walked over to a cabinet on the other side of the room, opening it and starting to rummage through it. Avery looked around the sickbay, smelling the familiar smell of coffee and seeing the way that everything was scattered around on tables and on the floor. Even the contents of the cabinet that Scott was currently searching through was a complete mess. Avery had been here only yesterday to get a cut on her finger looked at and it hadn't been that much of a mess then. What had happened?

She contemplated asking him, though decided against it as he turned around and handed her a small bottle of something that looked just like water. Although she had drunk that before and she knew that it very much was _not_ water.

"I hope you'll get some sleep with the help of this," said Scott, earning a smile from Avery.

"Thank you, doctor," said Avery, standing up.

Scott simply nodded before scurrying over to his microscope again. Whatever he was doing, it seemed rather important to him as he seemed to have planned on staying awake the rest of the night. After all, on the table where the microscope was placed, there was an entire kettle of coffee placed with a mug next to it. Without another word, Avery continued to walk to the door again though stopped as she accidentally stepped on something that scrunched underneath her boot. It was a piece of paper from the looks of it, though when Avery picked it up to place it in the bin, she noticed that it indeed was not a piece of paper. Instead, it was a picture of Scott with a young boy laying on a hospital bed next to him. They were both smiling at the camera though Avery could see that Scott's eyes didn't mirror the same smile that was on his lips. The boy, on the other hand, seemed genuinely happy. She wondered why he was in a hospital in the first place since he didn't look ill.

Quietly, she placed the picture on a table close to her before walking out of the sickbay, back to her quarters. She shouldn't interfere with her fellow staff's personal lives though she couldn't help but feel curious as to who that boy had been. Scott had never said anything about a family. In fact, he had told the crew that he was the only child and that he had no family alive anymore. Instead, he had devoted his life to work, though once again, he never really explained what that work was.

In the end, Avery simply concluded that he was a bit of strange man and that perhaps that boy was nothing more but a patient of his.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I'd appreciate it a lot if you would maybe leave a comment if you have a question or if you want to tell me something that's bad or good.**


	17. Chapter 4, Kidnappings

**An Old Friend**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who. All rights go to the BBC. However, I do own my own characters and their stories!**

* * *

 **~Chapter 4~  
Kidnappings**

"And you're sure that your roommates were perfectly normal? They hadn't been – I don't know – snooping about somewhere where they weren't supposed to?" asked Martha before thanking the lady as she handed her a cup of tea.

"My dear, if any of us go anywhere where we're not supposed to go, an alarm will trigger and we'll simply be taken back to this place," said the lady, smiling kindly at Martha. "Several children have already tried to explore the rest of the ship. Nothing bad happens. It's all been accounted for by the people who made this ship. Even the crew is used to it. There's no reason for them to kidnap people."

"No reason that we are aware of, that is," added the man as he joined them in the living area, sitting down next to his wife.

The Doctor was not participating in their conversation. Instead, he was stood by the window, looking out over the deck they were currently on. No one was outside now apart for a few younger adults who were exiting their friends' homes in order to get back to their own houses. The holographic sky up in the ceiling was showing stars though no moon. Instead, there was a faint glow coming from the lamps hidden behind the sky that represented the moonlight, making it possible for the people to walk around outside without having to fumble in complete darkness. The Doctor's eyes watched everything that he could see through the window. He had no idea of what it was that was taking these people from their homes, but he was set on finding out the truth. His mind told him that maybe, just maybe, the crew had something to do with this. Perhaps, they weren't at all the way the civilians thought they were. Something inside of him also told him that the name Weyland, although he knew this man from a previous adventure of his, was not who he claimed to be. He was doing quite a lot for humanity and their start to find allies out in the universe and the Doctor couldn't help but feel like there was something he had forgotten about this man's past and his reasons of doing this.

Though of course, all of that could have absolutely nothing to do with this.

"But it doesn't make any sense," sighed Martha, looking over at the Doctor who simply continued to stare out through the window. "No one would take people for no real reason, right?"

"No Human, anyway," mumbled the Doctor, all three people turned to look at him from where they were seated on the sofas.

"Are you saying you believe these children's ghost stories about a monster kidnapping people?" asked the man, making the Doctor turn around.

"You don't?" asked the Doctor, turning around. "It might be turned into a ghost story but that doesn't mean that it's not partly true. A man can look like a monster in this dim light."

The man looked away from the Doctor before shaking his head. "I am going to bed," he said, turning his head to look at his wife. "And you?"

"I think it's time for us all to turn in," said the lady, nodding her head. "Your bedroom is the door to the right. Two separate beds."

"Thank you," said Martha as she watched the elderly couple retreat to their bedroom, closing the door behind them. "This is awfully generous of them."

"Well, they do think we're inspectors and part of the crew," said the Doctor, earning a look from Martha.

"How did you do that anyway?" she asked to which the Doctor simply shrugged before turning back around to look out through the window again.

Martha rolled her eyes at her companion's back before setting the cup of tea on the coffee table and walking over to the Doctor.

"What are you hoping to see?" asked Martha.

"I'm hoping to see something… Probably isn't going to happen this night though. It's not a frequent thing," said the Doctor.

"I heard someone say, earlier in the cafeteria, that whatever it is that is taking people is taking two at a time from one particular house. After two kidnappings, one house is empty," said Martha before looking out through the window. "You think it's coming here?"

"If this is the last place it struck… and it's following a pattern, than it might," said the Doctor before looking over at his friend. "But don't worry! Nothing's going to happen to us."

"We could get hurt," said Martha, glancing at the Doctor who immediately grinned happily.

"Oh, that's just part of the thrill!" he said, earning a scoff from Martha. "Besides, you're a doctor."

"Hey, don't look at me when you get hurt. Your anatomy is weird," said Martha, smiling an amused smile at the Doctor.

"Mm, maybe. But you won't have to do anything anyway. Just get me to the TARDIS as fast as possible and I'll be alright," said the Doctor, shrugging to which Martha scoffed again.

The Doctor looked out through the window once more as Martha continued to stare at him, slowly realizing what he was saying. "What, are you saying you can heal yourself? That you're some kind of immortal alien?"

"No, not that. It's just a fictional thing," said the Doctor, smiling over at Martha who shook her head at him.

"You are unbelievable," said Martha, a grin spreading across the Doctor's face.

"I know," he said simply before looking over at Martha again, seriousness taking over his features. "You should try and get some sleep. I'll stay on watch duty and see if I see something unusual."

Martha nodded her head, not denying the fact that she indeed could use some sleep.

"Alright. Night," she said, turning around before walking across the room to the door the lady had pointed at earlier. "And, be careful."

The Doctor simply nodded his head, staring out through the window as he heard the door shut behind Martha. This would be a long night for him.

* * *

With Martha safe and sound in bed, the Doctor sat up all night. Luckily, his Time Lord DNA helped him with being able to stay alert as sleep was something that they didn't need as much as Humans. Though at the same time, once the night started to end and the artificial sky started to show clouds and a nice yellow, orange sky, the Doctor felt as though he could've gone to bed either way. There hadn't been a single strange sighting during the entire night and he couldn't help but feel _very_ disappointed at this. With a sigh, he walked towards the door that led into Martha's bedroom, opening it. He was about to open his mouth in order to awaken Martha when he realized something.

Martha was not in the bed. The bed had been used, but the sheets were now all over the room as if a struggle had been going on and Martha herself was nowhere to be seen. Worry took over the Doctor's hearts as he jogged up to the bed, inspecting the sheets. He felt relieved when he saw no blood though there were shreds in the fabric from something that looked a lot like claws. When he held the sheets up in front of him, he could clearly see the claw marks of something quite big.

For a while, the Doctor simply sat there, crouched down in front of the bedsheets on the floor while fumbling with the fabric in his hands. There was no way that there was an actual monster walking about, kidnapping people. Monsters were not real. In that case, there had to be some kind of logical explanation to why this _monster_ existed.

With an angered feeling rushing through him from the fact that someone had taken one of his friends and possibly hurt them as well, he stood up.

"Where did you come from…" mumbled the Doctor as he _soniced_ the room.

There was a strange sort of signal coming off from the sheets where the monster had taken Martha and as he followed the signal, it ended with the Doctor pointing his sonic screwdriver up towards the ventilation shafts that existed above them.

A lamp was lit in the Doctor's mind and he hit his head once; "Thick! I'm so thick! Monsters don't exist and they most certainly can't teleport without there being radiation left indicating that! It's sneaking about up there!" he said, turning around to see that there wasn't anyone there. "I'm talking to myself… And I'm doing it again."

Quickly, he used his sonic screwdriver to open the small ventilation shaft which was quite easy, indicating that someone else had done this before him. Swiftly, he moved the bed so that it was underneath the shaft and jumped up on it. Placing his hands in the ventilation shaft, he jumped up and crawled his way inside. He breathed out relieved when he noticed that the ventilation shaft was indeed as wide as he had hoped it was in the old ships and therefore, it would be easy for him to move about in there. With his sonic screwdriver showing him the way as the vague signal was still in there, he started to crawl, determined to get Martha back alive and well as soon as possible.

* * *

Avery's eyes fluttered open, a foggy world surrounding her. She groaned as she sat up though didn't bother to become worried over the strange sensation in her body and the strange sight she had. After all, those were normal side-effects of the concoction that doctor Lang gave her and she was used to them by now. Slowly, she sat up in bed and rubbed away the sleep from her eyes. After her visit to the doctor, no nightmares had appeared again and she felt relieved by this as she had gotten a good night's sleep because of this.

She didn't bother to take a shower and therefore, she simply put on her uniform, brushed her hair, washed her face and put her hair up in a bun before walking out of her quarters towards the kitchen where breakfast would be served. Since the breakfast for the past two days had been pancakes, she knew that it would be pancakes again this morning though she didn't mind that. In fact, she dreaded the new breakfast that would come the next morning as she was afraid that it might be something she didn't quite enjoy. And whenever it was something she didn't enjoy, she'd have to eat it for three days in a row.

On her way to the kitchen, a strange noise made her stop. It came from above her and she quickly looked up. It had sounded almost like someone was growling followed by the sound of metal trembling. Though, when she looked up, she simply saw the ceiling and she quickly scoffed at her imagination before walking on.

The kitchen was filled with crewmembers which meant that basically the entire crew that would be working the dayshift was there, eating breakfast. The crew was not very big and so, when the small dining area was filled with people, there was a big chance that the entire crew was there. The night crew existed of only three people along with a couple of guards. What they did during the night, Avery had never really gotten a grasp off neither had she really every talked to these people.

With a wave towards Laurent who was sitting with Katherine, the science officer who made sure that the rest of the science officers, who were only two, did what they were supposed to do. Usually, she'd sit up in the bridge, researching the few things they could research while travelling out in space. From what Avery had heard, she was one of the people that were going to stay on Earth. The exact reason was still unclear to Avery.

Grabbing two pancakes and adding some maple syrup on top of them before grabbing a cup of coffee, she started to make her way over to Laurent. On her way, she was greeted by a couple of the guards that worked for Laurent to which she smiled and nodded her head. Without them, safety on board would've been something fragile.

"Morning," she said as she sat down by the table with Laurent and Katy.

"Well, you slept quite long," said Laurent. "That's unlike you."

Avery simply shrugged. "I had a good night."

"Then there's two of us," said Laurent, leaning back in his chair. "Slept like a babe."

"Well, we're not three anyway," said Katy, leaning her elbow on the table before resting her chin on her hand.

"Rough night?" asked Avery, grabbing her cutlery and beginning to slice up her pancake into smaller bits.

"I dined with the captain yesterday," said Katy, earning an amused look from Laurent.

"That's why I do not have a chance on you! You're into older guys," said Laurent, leaning forwards on his elbows, his food already eaten. "Tell me more!"

"Shut it," said Katy with a roll of her eyes. "I tried to get him to talk about why he's distancing himself from the rest of the crew."

"And?" asked Avery.

"He told me to go away… not with those words," said Katy, earning surprised looks from both Laurent and Katy. "There's obviously something he doesn't want to talk about."

"You don't say," said Avery, placing her knife back down on the table before switching her fork to her right hand, starting to eat her now sliced pancake. It was not very formal to eat like this, but she didn't care as she wasn't in a very formal place. "You didn't get anything out of him?"

"Just that he's got a drinking problem. Though he didn't say that to me," said Katy. "I smelled that."

"Great," said Avery with a sigh.

"I'm sure there's a reason for his behaviour," said Laurent with a shrug before leaning back in his chair again. "Maybe it has something to do with his kid."

"He's got a family?" asked Katy, surprisingly quickly.

"Non. He had one. But he went through quite a rough divorce," said Laurent. "Now, he can't even talk to his own daughter."

"Jeez…" said Avery. "It could have something to do with it."

Laurent suddenly placed a finger against the earpiece in his ear, furrowing his brow. Katy and Avery turned to each other instead, knowing that he had simply gotten in a report from one of his guards.

"Probably… but if he wanted to continue fighting for his daughter, then why come along here?" asked Katy. "I mean, there's not much he can do up here."

"Maybe Weyland's got some kind of a deal with him. That he'll try to get Holmes' daughter back to him if he does this for him," speculated Avery.

"I don't know. Could Weyland really do that?"

"He's got a lot of money," said Avery before plopping another piece of pancake in her mouth. "But I think you're right. Weyland can't have that power."

"He can't… but then again, he did get this idea through," said Katy, earning a surprised look from Avery.

"What? I thought it was the government's idea to do this?" asked Avery. "I mean, after San Francisco and the other alien encounters… I thought the government wanted this!"

Katy was about to reply when Laurent interrupted them.

"Sorry, I've got to go," said Laurent. "The sensors in the captain's quarters just started to freak out."

"Okay," said Avery and Katy at the same time as he stood up.

"See you for lunch?" asked Avery.

"Oui," replied Laurent simply before storming off.

"Wonder what that was all about," said Katy quietly.

"Me too," said Avery slowly.

For some reason, the strange noise that she had heard earlier came to her mind though she quickly ignored that thought. After all, what was the reason for that to be related with the sensors in the captain's quarters?

* * *

In sickbay, doctor Lang was creating even more mess than he already had with his research by angrily pushing the contents of the multiple tables down on the floor. His mind replayed the words the captain had said to him over and over again and it was starting to drive him insane.

 _"Stop this madness, Scott! You know just as well as me that he can't do anything to get them back!"_

He was lying. He had to be lying! His son was not dead. His son was still alive and if he could make his research work, he could build something remarkable that could save his son's life. Something that could make him have even a longer life than he would've had originally and that was what Scott wanted for his son. And it was what he was going to give his son as well.

Although he had wanted to get on board this ship because he went through a time where he believed that his research was just bullshit, he now knew that there had to be a way to make it work. If he could only find the correct sort of energy out there in the vast universe, than it could work. And if that meant that he had to tinker a little with the navigation systems, than the captain should just have to deal with it.

Breathing deeply, he placed himself in the middle of the room. A little something amongst the pile of rubbish that he had thrust down from the last table had made him stop his childish outburst against his surroundings. It was a picture of him and his son. The last picture that they could've taken before that awful day where his son didn't wake up again. No, he was not dead. But he was not awake either.

The picture was now resting in his hand and he stared at it with a determined look on his face. He had to do this.

For him.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I'd appreciate it a lot if you would maybe leave a comment if you have a question or if you want to tell me something that's bad or good.**


	18. Chapter 5, The TARDIS

**An Old Friend**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who. All rights go to the BBC. However, I do own my own characters and their stories!**

* * *

 **~Chapter 5~  
The TARDIS  
**

The signal was gone and the Doctor sighed loudly. He was now crawling towards the place where the ventilation shafts split up into two again. Before, he had had no difficulty with choosing a path, though this time he had no signal to guide him. As he came closer to the crossing, he stopped crawling for a while, wiping away the sweat from his brow. He was still wearing his coat which was making him warmer than he would've normally become because of the heat up there. The air they spread throughout the ship was supposed to mimic the air that would be on Latreille and therefore, it was a little more humid and warmer than the air in the tropical spots on Earth. The Doctor felt relieved that Martha didn't have to do this as her human body would've had even more trouble with coping with the heat than his Time Lord body.

One path, the one that was straight in front of him, lead downwards. At closer inspection, it was rather steeply downwards as well and the Doctor didn't feel like gliding down that path. The one to his left probably led to the rest of the ship on that level. He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. What was he supposed to do now? He could take the wrong turn which would cause him to go away from Martha which was not what he wanted. On the other hand, he had to move forwards. Whatever way he took, he was sure that he would find something. The only question was whether or not that something was what he needed to find out.

Quickly, he started to crawl inside the ventilation shaft that led to the left, not feeling like he wanted to glide down that steep shaft. He didn't even know how steep it would become later on and since he was crawling with his face first and there was just not enough space to turn around so his feet went in first, he decided to choose the easier way. Besides, a creature that was large enough to make marks on a sheet and to take a grown Human with him up into the ventilation shaft must be at least the size of the Doctor and he wouldn't have chosen that steep way either… hopefully.

He continued to crawl on and on until he came to a part where one could exit the ventilation shaft. Of course, he had turned many times again and he was sure that this was just one of many openings but he still decided to take the shot and exit. Besides, he had to take off his coat soon because he needed to cool his body down a little. With the help of his sonic screwdriver, he managed to get the grate opened. He noted that it was just as easy as with the other grate, meaning someone had used this one as well. It fell down to the floor though didn't make too much noise. Placing the sonic screwdriver in between his teeth, he began to, surprisingly ungracefully, try and climb down. Underneath of him, a desk was placed and he wanted to go down with his feet first, meaning he'd have to crawl over the opening first, and then lower himself down onto the desk. Though as he crawled over the opening, he accidentally missed the fact that the opening was rather large and misplaced one of his hands, causing him to simply fall down the opening, landing on the desk with a thud.

He groaned, taking out the sonic screwdriver from his mouth and placing it back into his coat before sitting up, inspecting the damage that he had done. The desk itself had survived. Though the tablet that had been resting on it was broken in various places. The room itself had even been affected… though he soon realized that it was illogical that his fall had caused the entire room to look as damaged and messy as it did now. Instead, he realized that something else must have done the mess.

There was a bed located on one side of the room and the Doctor realized that this was someone's quarters. From the look of it, it was not one of the civilian's rooms since none of them seemed to have had a desk in their room along with some of the other, technological attributes hence, the Doctor deduced that this was one of the crew's quarters.

Immediately, the Doctor knew that someone in the crew had taken Martha. Though he was still slightly unsure. After all, what were the chances that the Doctor had managed to follow the exact same path as the _thing_ that took his friend and the other people without having been able to follow the signal for longer than a few meters. Besides, the signal was odd as well. It was nothing that the Doctor had encountered before and for some reason, this signal reminded him a lot of the signal that a translator gave off. As he was crawling through the ventilation shafts, he had had a lot of time to think about that signal and he had come to the conclusion that it indeed reminded him of such a signal. It was strange since he was sure that the crew all knew how to talk English. So, why would the person need that when kidnapping someone?

The sound of footsteps were heard and the Doctor took out his screwdriver, pointing it towards the doors just as they swished open. Three men appeared in the doorway and as the Doctor saw their weapons who were all pointing towards him, he lowered his screwdriver.

The man that seemed to be the one in charge of the other two men took a few steps inside of the room, his eyes inspecting the room. As he looked around, he lowered his weapon slightly while the other two men were still tensed.

"Mon Dieu…" the leader said before looking back at the Doctor. "Sir, put your hands up immediately! I am arresting you for… destroying the captain's quarters."

"The captain's?" asked the Doctor as he raised his hands, doing as the man said.

"Oui," said the man. "Step down from the desk."

The Doctor obeyed his order and the moment he was down from the desk, the leader grabbed his hands and handcuffed them to each other behind his back. Although he did it quickly, he also did it softly and without wanting to hurt the Doctor. His weapon was now resting against the man's stomach, staying there via a chord that was attached to the weapon and strung around his neck. The sonic screwdriver that the Doctor had been holding in his hands was placed into the leader's pocket, the leader only glancing at it once with a confused look on his face.

"Take him," said the leader, one of the two men lowering his weapon as well before taking the Doctor's handcuffs in his hands, in case the Doctor wanted to make a run for it. Though, he didn't want to.

"Look, arresting me is not going to help," said the Doctor, turning to the leader who walked past him, pressing a finger to the earpiece in his ear.

"Brisbois to Captain Holmes," said the man.

"Whatever is taking those people has taken my friend and I really need to get back to searching for her and your missing people," said the Doctor, looking at the man as he once again repeated what he said through his earpiece.

With a strange look at the Doctor, the man walked over to the wall where a panel existed along with a small screen above it. He pressed the white button that existed on the panel before saying; "Locate Captain Holmes."

 _"Captain Holmes is not on board."_

"Huh?" asked the man, turning towards the Doctor. "What did you do to him?"

"I didn't take him," said the Doctor, shaking his head.

"This is not a game. Tell me where the captain is and we will simply let you go back to your deck," said the man, walking towards the Doctor again, his hands now resting on his weapon.

"I haven't taken your captain! Look, I'm looking for my friend. And I have reasons to believe that your captain might have been taken by the same thing," said the Doctor.

"Thing?" asked the man. "There's only Human's on board."

"Probably," said the Doctor. "But you're part of the crew. And… you don't seem to know anything about the kidnappings. So I am assuming that you are a good person and have nothing to do with this. Just, let me loose and I'll help you search for him."

"I can't do that," said the man. "Because you've taken our captain. Take him to the brig."

"Sir… we don't have a place to hold him at," said the man holding the Doctor's handcuffs.

"Improvise," said the leader with a sigh. "I'll talk to Parsons."

"Yes, sir," said the man as he started to push the Doctor towards the doorway.

"No, you don't understand," started the Doctor. "This is stupid! You're being stupid! You need me!"

The leader simply watched as the Doctor was led away, not reacting to his words.

After a while, the Doctor simply rolled his eyes, realizing these people weren't going to listen to him. Hopefully, he'd be able to break out of whatever place they were going to keep him in.

* * *

Avery's day started off badly. After she had checked on the engines, she got a call from Katy in where she told Avery that there was a broken cooling system in one of the lodges on the Path. It meant that her former plans on going to the captain and ask for the codes to enter the storage rooms would be postponed until later that day or, if it took too long to fix, until tomorrow. With a sigh, she exited the elevator shaft that led down to the storage deck. With heavy steps, she started to walk down the hallway towards the storage that was the furthest away. On her way, she looked through the small, round window that existed on each door that was closed off for the current crew. One of those storages would be the one she'd have to take a look at. However, she didn't see anything strange in there. Except for the fact that the lights were broken in one of the storages which she would have to fix as well.

As she continued to walk down the hallway, she realized something that made her slow down her pace and furrow her brow.

The lights on the spaceship were the special designed lights that Weyland had created. They were made out of a special chemical that glowed in the dark. If the lights didn't work in that storage department, that meant that someone had broken the lights on purpose since the only known way for those lights to break were if someone touched them…

With slow movements, she opened the door that led to the storage she had to enter for spare parts for a cooling system. The only reason for her slow movements was the fact that there were a lot of strange things happening on the ship. Not only was the 'haunted' storage on her mind, but also the kidnappings of the civilians. No crewmember had been taken though but it was still bothering her. Where were they taken? The entire ship was used and there wasn't a single place where someone could be hiding kidnapped people. It was also odd that Katy had been the one to inform her about the broken cooling system. Was that not the captain's duty?

She walked towards the end of the storage where the spare parts would be. Looking around for a while, she leaned against the edge of a strange thing she hadn't even noticed since she was too deep in her own thoughts, while grabbing the spare parts she needed and placing them in her pockets. Pushing herself away from the thing again and turning towards the door, she suddenly froze, pursing her lips as she thought back on the thing that she had leaned against. It had been odd… and blue.

Looking back behind her, her eyes widened as the _thing_ that she had been leaning against awoke memories inside of her that she would never forget.

There, before her, the TARDIS stood.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I'd appreciate it a lot if you would maybe leave a comment if you have a question or if you want to tell me something that's bad or good.**


	19. Chapter 6, An Old Friend

**An Old Friend**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who. All rights go to the BBC. However, I do own my own characters and their stories!**

* * *

 **~Chapter 6~  
An Old Friend  
**

Her eyes were like glued to the blue box in front of her. Thoughts swivelled through her mind at a high pace and she could barely register some of them. She was confused about this since she hadn't seen any sign of the Doctor being on board yet at the same time, she felt relieved as well. There was something going on aboard the ship and if there was someone out there that could find out what was going on, it would be the Doctor. Excitement filled her and a smile spread over her lips when she realized that she was going to meet the Doctor again. She had dreamed of this ever since the day she had declined the Doctor's offer of joining him and Rose on their travels. Perhaps now she could finally go with him and see space the way she wanted to see space. Not from a boring space ship where the windows were shut closed for "safety reasons", but from a first-hand experience where she could see it all with her own eyes and touch it all with her own hands. She was tired of having to dream about it. Now, she would make it happen as well.

However, something inside of her made her stop. If the Doctor was on board, then the strange things happening on board of the ship might be more dangerous than she first thought. After all, the last time the Doctor had come for a nice, calm visit somewhere, he had ended up running for his life.

Quickly, Avery turned around, jogging out of the storage room she had been in. The spare parts she had originally come for were long forgotten as she realized that the captain had to know about this. About the Doctor and the possible dangers that were lurking on the ship.

* * *

With a burning headache and a sore throat, Martha woke up in a dark room. The air around her felt ice cold and she could feel her entire body shivering from the low temperature. Although the room was dark and there were no lights turned on, there was still a little bit of light seeping in through a small window in what looked like the door. However, Martha doubted it was a door since it existed so high up, almost touching the ceiling. Perhaps, she thought, the door wasn't a door and the window was just some kind of opening, a sort of vent, leading to another room where the lights were turned on. Everything felt confusing. In fact, she herself felt a little confused as well. There was something sticky and wet around her upper body, her head and legs, holding her to the ground in a tight grip. She could barely even look around the room she was in as something held her head in position, the sticky goo sticking to her forehead and going over the upper part of her ears.

She barely remembered anything from before her blackout. All she did remember was a strange noise that had come from the vents above her. She had barely even had time to lay down on the bed before something had come down from the ceiling with a hissing noise. Most likely, whatever it had been, had drugged her as she felt queasy and ready to throw up. At the mere thought of her poor stomach feeling badly, a little bit of her dinner managed to push its way up her throat, however she managed to swallow it again. Though not before she accidentally had spit out a little bit of spit.

Martha sighed at the situation she had gotten herself into and she wished she had just stayed with the Doctor instead of going to bed. Then again, perhaps she would've dragged the Doctor into this as well and then, nobody would be looking for her.

A sudden thought struck her. The little amount of spit that had accidentally left her mouth had disappeared. Surely she would've felt it dripping down her chin or cheek by now since gravity was not something that just disappeared, right?

Then, another thought struck her and she looked back to the small gap that led in the only existing light in the room. The light was not shining towards what she thought was the floor. But it was shining towards the ceiling. Of course, some light would bounce off the floor and hit the ceiling, but not that much. Slowly, Martha realized that she was not tied down to the floor… but to the ceiling.

Her heart slowly started to beat faster and she caught the sight of a young woman running past the small window in the door, though Martha didn't have any time to react and call for help as her ears registered a familiar hissing noise coming from her right. Although she tried to look to her right, she couldn't see anything due to the darkness, though she knew something was there. And just this caused her to scream.

* * *

Avery entered the lift, pressing the button that would make the doors close before the lift would take her to the upper level of the crew's part of the ship. However, just a few seconds before the elevator doors closed, she heard something very disturbing.

A scream.

Quickly, she pressed the button that would hinder the doors from closing, though she was too late as she was already on her way up. With a whispered curse, she pressed the white button next to the small panel in the elevator, hailing her captain as she immediately realized that something bad was up. And whatever that was had something to do with the storage rooms. She had no real proof of it, but she was pretty sure of it.

As she didn't get an answer from him, she sighed a frustrated sigh and tried hailing someone else.

"Parsons to Security," said Avery into the com.

It only took a couple of seconds for her friend to answer.

"Laurent, I need you to come meet me. I have something I need to discuss with the captain."

 _"What?"_ he asked.

"I just heard a scream in the storage," said Avery. "And… I saw something."

 _"Ave… Something's happened."_

She furrowed her brow; "What?"

 _"You might want to get down to Security. We have a suspect to the captain's disappearance."_

"Sorry, did you say disappearance?" asked Avery, furrowing her brow.

 _"Ave… He's not here."_

"Laurent, that's not possible. Where'd he possibly have gone?" said Avery with an amused tone to her voice. Though, she did doubt her words. After all, the passengers had been going missing lately, surely the captain could go missing too…

 _"He's nowhere to be found, Ave. Katy and I have searched everywhere and my guards aren't seeing him on the Path."_

"You're kidding me… He's gone? Just like… Like those people?" asked Avery, placing a hand on her head, as if she would believe it better if she did this action.

 _"Come down here… You're acting captain now and we need you."_

* * *

The doors opened and Avery entered the security department with what looked like confident steps. Though she didn't feel all that confident at all. In fact, she felt completely lost. She had no training in being a captain and she sure as hell didn't have any confidence to actually make big decisions. Though, she didn't have much of a choice. It was either this, or no captain at all.

The ship wasn't made for holding any captives and therefore the security department was a simple, large room with stored weapons and a _lot_ of screens where the different footages of the security cameras were being shown. On the bridge, where Laurent had his main station, there were only three screens which meant that he had to switch to the different cameras manually. However, down in Security, all cameras had one screen. Meaning, there were over a hundred, tiny screens placed on one wall. Placed against this wall was a desk with yet another monitor. On that monitor, anyone could choose what place they wanted to see the footage from if they were looking for something specific. The status of the sensors on the ship were also shown there. Each crewmember had a special uniform on that didn't trigger these sensors, meaning they could walk around everywhere without any alarms going off. Though if any intruder entered, the sensors would give off an alarm. Whoever was on duty could then easily check out the place where the sensors went off by choosing the right camera footage to see, and then simply determine what the threat level was. Usually, it was just a kid that wanted to explore.

Laurent and two of his men approached Avery.

"Where?" asked Avery, Laurent immediately gesturing towards the back of Security where the training room lay.

It was a secluded area of Security meant for everyone though lately, only the ones that felt like it were using it. It had been in the ship's protocol to use the training room at least one hour per week in order to stay fit, but after the captain had complained and even called Weyland about this particular rule, the protocol was removed. The only people that Avery knew were still using it was Laurent and some of his men though no one else had bothered to continue training.

Behind the training are were, small compartments that existed for taking showers. As they entered the training room, Avery noticed that one of these compartments' door was open and that a man was standing inside of there, a force field hindering him from exiting.

"Is that our kidnapper?" asked Avery as Laurent lead her towards the man.

The closer they got, the more startled Avery felt. There, in one of the showering compartments, standing with his hands in his pockets, was the Doctor. He looked at her with the same surprised feeling showing on his face as Avery felt and it took some time for Avery to actually say something.

"A kidnapper?" asked Avery, immediately understanding that this was not their culprit.

"They seem to believe so," said the Doctor, an amused grin spreading over his lips as he realized that he had finally found a way out of his "cell".

"Let him out, Laurent," said Avery, shaking her head while smiling.

"Pardon?" asked Laurent before crossing his arms over his chest.

Avery noticed that all three men were carrying their guns and she raised an eyebrow. She understood that they didn't know who the Doctor was, but he didn't even look dangerous. So why were they acting so tensely around him.

"I said, let him out. He's not our kidnapper," said Avery. "He's the Doctor."

"You don't seem to understand, _Captain_ ," said Laurent. "But this man was present at the crime scene."

"Crime scene?" asked Avery with a raised eyebrow.

"The captain's quarter was completely destroyed and the captain himself was nowhere to be found," said Laurent before pointing at the Doctor. "This man was right in the middle of it."

"I have told you a hundred times!" said the Doctor, shaking his head. "I am not the man you're after. I'm looking for a friend and the missing people of _your_ ship. So let me out so I can do my smart things and save the day!"

"Just let him out," said Avery. "I know him. He's not the one that took the captain."

"May I speak with you, in private?" asked Laurent, grabbing Avery's arm and dragging her away from the Doctor and his two men who stayed put, their hands resting on their weapons.

"What are you doing, Laurent? I am telling you quite clearly that this man is not who you're looking for," said Avery, crossing her arms over her chest and feeling slightly agitated towards her close friend.

"He was there, in the captain's quarters. He's the only link we've got to whatever is happening out there," said Laurent. "There's something taking our passengers and I want to know what."

"You don't think I want to as well?" hissed Avery, her patience now gone. They were wasting time now. Time that the Doctor could be using to finding out the truth.

"I do, it's just that-"

"No, stop it. I'm acting-captain right now and I'm telling you to let this man out," said Avery, pointing back towards the Doctor. "He can help us."

Laurent watched her for a long time, seeming to be looking for any lack of determination in her blue eyes. When he didn't find any, he diverted his gaze down to the floor, contemplating on what he was going to do. Of course, he had no actual choice in the matter since Avery was, indeed, the captain now until Holmes was found.

"Fine," sighed Laurent, brushing past Avery.

She herself turned around with a sigh as well, though stayed put where she was standing. She simply watched Laurent remove the small device on the wall that was creating the force field. The moment it was gone, the Doctor stepped out of the shower, giving Laurent a pointed look, before turning his attention to Avery.

"I saw your TARDIS down in the storage… Interesting place to park," said Avery, crossing her arms over her chest as she smiled over at the Doctor.

"Well, I couldn't really dock, now could I?" said the Doctor, walking over to Avery with an amused smile playing on his lips.

It wasn't until they were a few meters apart that Avery embraced her old friend, letting him lift her up and spin her around a few times before letting go of him again.

"It's been quite some time," said Avery.

"I can see that!" said the Doctor. "You've grown! Not to mention that you're acting captain now. Acting captain… what a surprise."

"Chief Engineer," corrected Avery with a chuckle. "Wanted to do what you do."

"Oh," said the Doctor, looking around himself while scratching the skin behind his ear. "You've – uh – managed quite well."

Avery rolled her eyes at him, changing the subject as she noticed Laurent and his men still standing behind them; "So, you're here because…?"

"Ah, yes! I was going to show Martha a spaceship-"

"The TARDIS is a spaceship, right?" asked Avery, making the Doctor point at her.

"Exactly!" he said before continuing to talk; "Anyway, I showed her this one."

"And, who's Martha?" asked Avery as the Doctor caught sight of something and brushed past her.

"Martha Jones. Medical student," said the Doctor as he put on a pair of glasses before looking at the multiple videos from the security camera feeds. "Is this the entire ship?"

Avery glanced over at Laurent who sighed before hesitantly saying; "Yes," and walking over to him. "Every corridor; every wall; every corner can be seen from this room."

"Well, that's not entirely true, now is it?" asked the Doctor, not looking back at Laurent after he had said this and missing the irritated look that Laurent shot back at Avery.

"What do you mean?" he asked with a strained voice.

"What's there?" asked the Doctor, pointing at two feeds that were showing nothing but darkness.

"Ah, that's storage room A and B," answered Laurent. "They're not open for use now because-"

"They'll be opened on the return trip, yes, I know," said the Doctor before narrowing his eyes.

Avery walked over to the Doctor, inspecting his concentrated feature.

"Sorry, Doctor, but do you know what is going on?" asked Avery. "The last time we met, aliens were involved. But that's not the case now, right? I mean, there's no way they could've boarded without us knowing."

"You didn't know I had boarded," said the Doctor, glancing over at her.

"Wait, are you saying aliens are kidnapping our people? Are you serious? What, like the alien abductions in movies?" asked Laurent sarcastically before scoffing.

"Well, that depends on, have you found a ship yet?" asked the Doctor, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Ship? No…" said Avery, shaking his head.

"Have you looked?" asked the Doctor.

"No. I'm just an engineer. All these decisions were supposed to be made by Holmes. He's the one that's supposed to do something when situations like these happen," said Avery.

"And did he? Did he do something?" asked the Doctor.

Laurent shook his head. "Apart from drinking? No."

The Doctor narrowed his eyes again before taking in a long breath. "We need to scan the ship. Do you have scanners?"

"Yeah, in the science department," replied Avery.

"Good, let's go," said the Doctor before briskly turning around and walking away.

"Wh- Doctor!"

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I'd appreciate it a lot if you would maybe leave a comment if you have a question or if you want to tell me something that's bad or good.**


	20. Chapter 7, Creature

**An Old Friend**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who. All rights go to the BBC. However, I do own my own characters and their stories!**

* * *

 **~Chapter 7~  
Creature  
**

Katy was very annoyed at the stranger that had just barged in through the doors, demanding full access to the ship's scanners. At first, she had told him off and pointed back to the door. However, when Avery and Laurent entered after the man, telling her to do as he said, Katy had been forced to show him the scanners. Although she was amazed at the fact that he knew how to use them, she still felt annoyed and simply stood there, sulking in a corner with her arms crossed over her chest.

Laurent and Avery noticed her dismay, though didn't bother to do anything about it. Instead, they watched the Doctor skilfully scan the ship. They didn't know what he was searching for and when he sighed, almost throwing his glasses off of his face, they both understood that whatever he had been looking for, had not been there.

"Doctor…" asked Avery softly, taking a step towards him as he stood in front of the monitors in the science department. "What exactly were you looking for?"

"A ship or something that can explain why there's an intruder aboard," said the Doctor before sighing again as he placed his glasses back in his coat's pocket. "But all I can find is the TARDIS."

"Intruder?" asked Katy, raising her eyebrows.

"TARDIS?" asked Laurent.

"Yeah, TARDIS; my ship," said the Doctor quickly before pressing two fingers to the bridge of his nose.

"Right. Of course," said Laurent sarcastically, not believing what he was saying.

"Um, excuse me! What intruder are we talking about here?" asked Katy, placing her hands on her hips.

"You know the kidnappings that the captain apparently didn't even bother to look into?" asked Avery; "Well, something took those people. And we're trying to find out what."

"Or who," said the Doctor before all of a sudden spinning around to face Avery. He placed his hands on her arms, surprising her and making her tense up. "Think. Focus. Has anything weird happened lately? Anything out of the ordinary?"

"Uh- I – I don't know," said Avery, her eyes locked with the Doctor's. For a moment, she thought she could see something in his eyes. Something yellow and something… strange. And although it was strange, it still felt warm and soothing.

"Anything. A malfunction that happened multiple times or-"

"A ghost in the storage rooms?" asked Laurent, cocking his head to the side as the Doctor looked at him. "Yeah. Something weird has been happening."

"A ghost?" asked the Doctor, letting go of Avery as he faced Laurent completely, not noticing the strange and befuddled look on her face.

"Oui. Something's been triggering the sensors down there for… well, months. Every time anyone goes down there to check on it, the sensors are fine. It's like there's something in there… something invisible," explained Laurent before scoffing. "You don't actually think that there is a ghost in the storage rooms, right?"

The Doctor watched Laurent for a while with a monotone look on his face. He was simply thinking, though to Laurent it looked as though he was trying to make Laurent understand that ghosts were real. And so, Laurent gaped slightly before saying: "Mon diue!"

"What? Oh, no ghosts aren't real," said the Doctor, waving his hands about as if to wave away the thought of ghosts. "But, something else might be down there. Martha might be down there."

"Who's Martha?" asked Avery as the Doctor started to walk towards the doors again.

"A friend. Now, come on! Allons-y!" said the Doctor.

* * *

Doctor Lang was standing in the corner of his sickbay, his eyes glued to a small screen in front of him. He could barely believe the results of the scan he was running. Slowly, he let his finger touch the screen, his lips parting slightly as the result of the scan turned out positive. All the time he had wasted on trying to find a way to locate a source for the needed energy had been for nothing since apparently, all he had had to do, was scan the ship.

As if something had just pinched him, the doctor bounced away from the screen with a gasp before putting a fist up into the air, celebrating for a short moment before quickly grabbing the gear he needed. He placed the metal helmet underneath of his arm and threw the cables over his shoulder. With his left hand, he grasped the mechanism that was going to finally make his life return back to normal again and then, he exited sickbay, starting to make his way down to the storage rooms with a grin playing on his lips. Now was the time. He was going to do it. And nothing could stop him now.

* * *

The sonic screwdriver didn't have any trouble opening the doors to the storage rooms, which only confused Laurent more about who this man was. However, since Avery was calm around him, he decided to give him a chance. Katy had stayed behind which didn't surprise either of the two crewmembers since Katy was no violent woman except for with words. As the door swished open, the three of them stepped inside of the vast darkness of the room. Avery quickly took out the flashlight she had brought with her and used it to look around the room. There was nothing out of the ordinary in there from what either of them could see. However, the sound of a voice calling for the Doctor made all three of them tense.

Without hesitating, Avery pointed her flashlight up towards the ceiling where the voice had come from and both she and Laurent gasped at what they saw. The Doctor, however, only seemed to grow aggravated at the sight before him.

The ceiling was clad with a strange organic tissue that held multiple people in tight bounds up against the ceiling. However, this was not what hade aggravated the Doctor. No, the fact that the tissue had already taken the life of five of the seven people there was what angered the Doctor. The tissue seemed to have consumed the people, leaving nothing but a bulge on the tissue itself. Laurent immediately grabbed his own flashlight, placing it in between his teeth so that he could use both arms while moving one of the boxes that stored food, underneath of one of the people. This very person, was the captain himself and Avery quickly started to help, handing the Doctor her flashlight.

"Martha?" called the Doctor up to her as he saw her.

She frowned down at him, replying with a; "This stuff stinks!"

"Don't worry, you'll be down soon," said the Doctor, glancing over at Avery and Laurent who were struggling to free their captain.

"Get me down from here!" growled the captain, seeming more irritated than he had been in a long time.

While Laurent used his knife to try and cut through the tissue, Avery looked down at the Doctor, seeing him standing by Martha.

"This your friend?" she asked, earning a nod from the Doctor.

Quickly, she made her way back down and grabbed another crate, pushing it over so that it was underneath of Martha. Since that crate was smaller than the one Laurent was using, she had to grab a second one in order to be able to reach up. Laurent quickly threw a second knife to Avery which she started to use on the tissue around Martha's ankles. As she did this, complaints and cries from the rest of the crew started. Laurent quickly called down more of his guards in order to help more people at the same time.

"My name's Avery," she said to Martha, having finished freeing her feet.

"I'm Martha," she replied as Avery started to cut free her head.

"Nice meeting you," she replied with a smirk. "You've known the Doctor for a long time?"

"Not that long," said Martha before sighing as she looked over at the Time Lord they were talking about. He was currently investigating something he had found on the other side of the room. "My fault we even came here."

"You mean you're not a passenger?" asked Avery, playing along for a while to see how she'd react.

"I-Uh, no," said Martha. "I mean, yes… It's just, complicated."

Avery smiled as Martha's head was free from the tissue. "It's okay. I know who the Doctor is. Met him once a few years ago."

"Really?" asked Martha, seeming relieved as well as curious.

"Yeah. He saved thousands of people from a tsunami," said Avery with a smile. "Including me."

"Oh…" was all Martha replied as she was slowly starting to come lose.

With the help of Avery, Martha managed to come down from the ceiling, feeling a little dizzy from the strange angle she had been in for a couple of hours already. While Avery walked back to Laurent to help get the captain down, multiple guards entered the storage room, carrying lights and knives. Although they seemed shocked at the sight before them, they immediately started to help the people that were still up in the ceiling.

Slowly, Martha walked over to the Doctor, peeking over his shoulder to see what he was doing. In his hand, a strange mechanism was resting while he, with the other hand, was scanning it using his sonic screwdriver.

"What's that?" asked Martha.

"I don't know," replied the Doctor. "It gives off the same signal as the one that I traced from the room you were taken from. And it looks almost like a… a translator."

"A translator?" asked Martha, not surprised by the lack of concern about her from the Doctor's side, although she had hoped for a little more.

"Yeah… probably used by whatever took you," said the Doctor before surprising her by embracing her. "How are you?"

"Good," she said, smiling as she embraced him back. "Although I'd love to know what just happened to me."

The Doctor pulled away, looking her deep in the eyes; "You don't remember?"

"Well, I remember trying to go to bed and I remember hearing a strange noise, like a growl. But after that, I don't remember much. Apart from the fact that I awoke and this… thing was next to me," she replied.

"Thing?" he asked, raising one eyebrow at her.

"Well, I can't really explain it. It was like something out of a bad horror movie," said Martha, shaking her head. "I'd rather just forget it to be honest."

"I will kill the bastard!"

The words made both the Doctor and Martha turn back towards the others, seeing the captain standing at the further most wall, seeming very angry.

"Captain, calm down," said Avery, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Let's get these people back first."

"Yeah, what's left of them!" growled the captain back before shaking her hand off him. "This is outrageous! It wouldn't surprise me if Weyland sent that thing with us just to see how we'd react to it!"

"Like he'd do that," said Laurent with a scoff. "The man's crazy but not that crazy."

"Take these people back to the path, please," said Avery to the guards, earning several thanks from the civilians as they passed her by.

The Doctor walked over to the captain, Laurent and Avery with Martha behind him.

"What makes you say that?" asked the Doctor.

"Who the hell are you!?" growled the captain towards the Time Lord.

"I'm the Doctor and this is Martha. Hello!" the Doctor said with a smile on his face before suddenly growing serious. "Now, tell me why you think that Weyland would do something like this?"

"I don't know who you are, but if you don't even know why-"

His aggravated words were cut off by a horrifying sound that couldn't be described with any other words but an animalistic roar. For some reason, it sounded almost pained to Avery and as she winced at the sound instead of showing fear, the Doctor eyed her curiously. However, he quickly had to change his focus to something entirely different as a large, though slim, creature jumped down from the ceiling vent. At the sight of the four of them, it seemed quite startled at first before it changed its features into what looked like anger. It bared its teeth at them and Avery grabbed a hold of Laurent's shirt when it did this. The creature itself indeed did look like something that came out of a bad horror movie though it was very much real. It was a strange, dark colour with a hint of gold to it while its hands and feet were nothing more but claws. Its eyes were a piercing blue colour while its nose only was two holes on each side of its head.

"Woah," said the Doctor, placing Martha behind him as he stood in front of the group of people, holding up his hands to show the creature that they were not there to fight. "It's okay. We're not here to hurt you."

The creature's eyes darted all around the place, seeing the broken tissue as well as the mechanism in the Doctor's hand. As its gaze lingered on the translator, the Doctor looked at it with curious eyes.

"You're a… You're a Bronzolov," said the Doctor, staring straight at the creature who simply hissed at him. "You're supposed to be extinct."

As the Doctor said this, the creature growled at him, taking a steps forwards, earning a gasp from Avery.

"Okay, okay. Sorry, I shouldn't have said that," said the Doctor before gesturing towards the translator in his hand. "This is yours, right? A translator… why would you need that?"

"And why did it kidnap my passengers!?" growled the captain, earning another growl from the creature.

"Stop it!" snapped the Doctor towards the captain, earning a glare from him though he did stay quiet. "He's got a fair point though. Why kidnap people? And why here? There are so many other ships out there, ships that are closer to your home planet… why the Humans, aye?"

The creature slowly lowered its head, his tense stance fading. From the corner of her eye, Avery saw a movement. It was no movement from a monster or a second creature. But the movement of the captain's arm grabbing Laurent's gun. Laurent himself barely had time to react before the captain was aiming at the creature and shooting.

With a shout, the Doctor grabbed the gun from the captain before throwing it across the room. Martha placed her hands over her mouth as she saw the creature fall to the floor while the Doctor slowly stepped towards Holmes, his eyes staring into the captain's, intimidating him. He didn't say any words, but simply stared him down until the captain looked away from the Time Lord, seeming to finally understand what he had done.

"Why?" was all the Doctor asked with a quiet voice. "Why?"

"Doctor," said Avery as she walked up to Martha, pointing towards the creature which was still breathing, though only vaguely.

The Doctor turned around, seeing the creature and jogging towards it. He crouched down in front of him and placed a hand on the creature's head.

"I'm sorry…" he said as the creature looked up at him. "I'm so sorry."

Avery and Martha walked over to the Doctor, looking down at the creature while Laurent glared at the captain before joining them.

"What is it?" asked Martha.

"A Bronzolov," said the Doctor, shaking his head as the creature breaths started to become more and more irregular. "The last one. I thought they'd all died out during the Time War. But I was wrong. This one survived."

"But you talked to it," said Avery as she crouched down next to the Doctor, feeling no fear towards it anymore. Its eyes landed on her as she said this and she could see the pain it was feeling. Not from the wounds the captain had bestowed on him, but from the psychological pain of being alone.

"The TARDIS translated what I said to him. Though, he couldn't reply since they don't talk with their voices," said the Doctor, earning a curious look from all three of them, the captain still standing away from the creature. "They're telepathic."

"That's quite advanced," said Avery while the Doctor closed his eyes.

She placed a hand on the alien's arm, earning a look from it before it suddenly stopped breathing, a long sigh escaping it before its eyes grew cold. The Doctor opened his eyes again, removing his hand from the alien before inspecting the translator again.

"Since he couldn't speak… he couldn't understand speech either. So, he invented a way to listen in on your conversations. A translator that, with a signal, sent the words into his brain. That's why there was a signal in the room where he took you, Martha," explained the Doctor before pressing a button. "If I'm right, this should play the last translated conversation."

As the four of them heard the recording, all eyes were diverted over to the captain who sighed and cursed under his breath.

"I suppose it's time for some things to be revealed then," he said.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I'd appreciate it a lot if you would maybe leave a comment if you have a question or if you want to tell me something that's bad or good. It keeps me motivated to keep writing when I see that people do indeed read it**


	21. Chapter 8, And Then There Were Three

**An Old Friend**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who. All rights go to the BBC. However, I do own my own characters and their stories!**

* * *

 **~Chapter 8~  
And Then There Were Three**

 _"Oh, captain, it's you."_

 _"Did you change the course of this ship!?"_

 _"Huh?"_

 _"Well, did you!?"_

 _"I… I may have made some minor changes, but that was all just so that I can finish what I am supposed to do here on the ship! You understand why I did it, right?"_

 _"It's stupid. You and your stupid machine are stupid. How Weyland ever thought that it would work, I don't know. But I know one thing, you will not touch those controls ever again!"_

 _"But, ca-"_

 _"No! Do you hear me? You'll stop all of this right now and simply be the doctor you were supposed to be!"_

 _"I was assigned to this ship because I was supposed to find a way for Mr. Weyland to bring him back! Remember how he told you that if you let me do my job and find a cure, he'll give you your daughter back. And I'll have my son again."_

 _"Stop this madness, Scott! You know just as well as me that he can't do anything to get them back!"_

 _"I- You've given up?"_

 _"I gave up a long time ago. You can't become immortal. Now, stop working on it and let nature have its way."_

As the four of them heard the recording, all eyes were diverted over to the captain who sighed and cursed under his breath.

"I suppose it's time for some things to be revealed then," he said. "Doctor Lang and I are here not only because we want to see new worlds. But also because Weyland is battling with some… difficulties."

Avery and the Doctor stood up, all four of them frowning at the captain.

"What difficulties?" asked Laurent.

"He's sick. Sick as in, his age is finally catching up with him," said Holmes, shaking his head. "He's crazy, man. He will do anything to stay alive and I'm not even joking."

"Stay alive? You can't survive when your body gives up because of old age," said Martha before narrowing her eyes.

"Yeah, well he wants to find a way to become immortal," said Holmes, shaking his head. "It's stupid."

"Immortal?" asked the Doctor as a small light started to blink on the translator at the mention of the word. He was the only one that noticed it though.

"Yeah, immortal. He lured me and Scott into his stupid trap, thinking that maybe, just maybe, he could manipulate us into working for him. It worked… in the beginning anyway."

Avery shook her head, not wanting to hear anymore. Weyland had given her the opportunity to go out into space and follow her dreams. To hear that he actually had a completely different plan than start an interspecies cooperation hurt her to say the least. She glanced over at Laurent to see him staring down at the floor, his jaw clenched and his hands closed into fists. From the looks of it, he hadn't known about this either and since his job was to take care of the ship and its crew, he was feeling agitated and threatened.

"How did he lure you?" asked Martha as the Doctor diverted his focus to the translator. "If you're against it now, you must have been against it then as well, right?"

Holmes sighed and placed two fingers on the brig of his nose, shaking his head softly. For a moment, he looked years and years older than he actually was, the stress of everything seeming to age him.

"He told me he could get my daughter back," said Holmes with a quiet voice. "My wife… she's not letting me see her after the divorce. Hell, I don't even know why we divorced anymore because she just comes up with new reasons every single day. It was just… I just wanted to see my daughter at least once a month. That was all I wanted. I didn't want to see _her_. But my daughter…"

Although the irritation towards Holmes was still present in all of their minds, it had softened and disappeared slightly at his words. He had gone through a lot and he didn't seem like a man that wanted to do the wrong choices. The problem was just that he _made_ all the wrong choices.

"The thing is, I realized a couple days ago that Weyland has no power over the government and the court. He can't do a damn thing to get my daughter back to me. He's just as helpless as I am," said Holmes through gritted teeth.

"What about Doctor Lang?" asked Avery, cocking her head to the side; "What would he get?"

"He'd get his son back. Apparently, Scott's son is in a deep coma after having been sick his entire childhood. Scott's been trying to work on a cure but there doesn't seem to be one. So, Weyland, having heard about his skills in biochemistry and more, asked Scott to start on a project that would change what human kind was all about. In other words, he wanted Scott to make a machine that would make _Weyland_ immortal. I highly doubt in any way that Weyland even cared about Scott's son," said Holmes, a bitter tone to his voice each time he spoke about Weyland.

"Say that again," said the Doctor right as Avery was about to say something, making her close her mouth again.

"Huh?" asked Holmes.

"The word. The word that Weyland wanted to be," said Doctor quickly, gesturing with his arms to say it as quickly as Holmes could.

"I don't know… What, immortal?" he said.

Everyone in the room raised their eyebrows when the translator from the creature started to light up.

"He couldn't understand what you were saying," said the Doctor quietly; "So he used a translator- oh, that's clever! But stupid… See, Martha, he was the last one from his species. And he was desperately searching for a way to make his species come back again. After all, Bronzolovs don't strive when they're alone. They strive when they're together; beautiful and intelligent creatures they are then. Now, Bronzolovs only live for so long, as everything in the universe, but it heard something. A whisper maybe, I don't know. But it heard about _you_ ," the Doctor pointed at Holmes; "and your secret mission. It decoded your language and set the translator to react to one word; immortal. Every person that uttered the word, turned into his target. Not to kill, but to question."

"I highly doubt the creature wanted to question them, Doc. Didn't you see what it did to them?" asked Laurent, shaking his head.

"Yes, I know. But they're telepathic. They don't talk with their mouths but with their minds. He probably tried to talk with them but because of the stress and fear, he couldn't even begin to enter their minds," said the Doctor.

"You mean that the four people that are now dead because of this were just an accident? Yeah, right," grunted Holmes.

"But it was. He couldn't do any more than that," said Avery, earning a nod from the Doctor.

Suddenly, the translator started to light up again. The Doctor looked at it before sighing.

"It's still working," said the Doctor, turning his sonic screwdriver towards it and turning it off.

"He wanted to become immortal because…?" asked Martha.

"He needed more time to get his species back," said the Doctor before looking at the body again. "He failed."

Avery watched the Doctor as he said this, seeing how his eyes glaze over with what looked like remorse and pain. Though that wasn't all she saw. There, amongst those pained feelings, deep down in his eyes, she saw anger.

The room went quiet after the Doctor had said this, almost as if everyone could see the pain and anger in his eyes.

"Well, back to business I suppose," grunted Holmes. "I'll get some cleaners to clean this mess up and the storage room will be back to normal soon… What about you Doctor? You staying?"

"Oh, no… Gotta dash and, you know, explore. I think, though," said the Doctor, looking back at Martha with a sudden happy smile on his face; "that we'll see each other again."

"Not taking the long road?" asked Avery, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Not really my thing," he said, smirking at her. "You coming with us this time?"

Avery's face fell, her eyes diverting away from the Doctor. The smile on the Doctor's face fell as well as he saw her reaction.

"I don't know…" said Avery, looking back at Laurent and her captain. "I don't know if I'm ready."

"You never are," said Martha, the Doctor looking at her as she approached Avery.

Placing a hand on the young woman's arm, Martha smiled sympathetically at Avery. "The things you see when you're out there with him… They're extraordinary, magnificent and just… great. But they're also dangerous and hostile some times which is something that you just have to be prepared for."

Avery watched Martha for a while before a sudden smile spread over her lips. "Laurent? You think you can cover for me?"

"Time travel, you don't need someone to cover for you," said the Doctor, a smile appearing on his lips as he realized her answer was yes.

"I know… But I'm quitting," said Avery, glancing once at Holmes who looked more than distraught to hear about this, before she turned to the Doctor.

"You go girl," said Laurent with a chuckle, watching Avery, the Doctor and Martha exit the storage room.

"Where are we going first?" asked Avery, smiling widely.

"Anywhere you wanna go," said the Doctor as he led the two women towards the storage room where the Tardis was parked.

"Anywhere?" asked Avery, grinning widely.

"Anywhere," replied the Doctor.

A sudden gasp was heard from Avery then, causing the Doctor to glance back at her. "I thought you knew I could travel anywhere."

"No, it's not that. I forgot something in my quarters… Can I just go grab it?" she asked, her hands fumbling around in her pockets, seeming to search for something.

"Of course, we won't go anywhere," said the Doctor, Avery immediately turning around and running away from them towards the elevator.

"So," said Martha, walking up to walking beside the Doctor; "Where exactly did you meet her?"

"San Francisco," replied the Doctor, opening the door to the storage room, letting Martha walk in first; "2578."

"Doctor…"

"Saved her life and her family. It was back with Rose… Rose…" he continued, not noticing that Martha had stopped walking and bumping right into her.

"Doctor," warned Martha, grabbing his arm and pointing towards the Tardis.

A frown appeared on the Doctor's face as he took in the sight of his ship. A man was standing before her, holding a strange mechanism in his hands, using a screwdriver to finish some last touches on it. Sudden anger bubbled up inside of the Doctor as he realized that the unknown man had attached cables to the Tardis' outside; cables that were attached to the mechanism he was holding in his hands.

The mechanism was big enough to fit around the top of his head and, it did look a lot like a helmet. It was made out of a golden metal, hundreds of wires attached to it who later on all intertwined into three, thick cables.

"What the hell is going on here?" exclaimed the Doctor, pushing past Martha and walking up to the man, catching his attention.

However, the man didn't seem to care as he simply continued doing what he was doing.

"Are you attaching cables to my ship?" continued the Doctor. "Why?"

"Your ship? This- is your ship?" asked the man, Martha slowly walking up behind the Doctor to look at what was happening.

"Yeah, it is. And I think you better go away," said the Doctor.

"I can't," he said, nodding his head before looking back down at the helmet in his hands. "I… can't."

"What are you doing? What is that thing?" asked Martha.

"This… This is going to make me immortal," said the man, smiling up at Martha. "And once I am… Once I can proof that it works, I'll be able to give this to mr Weyland and he can make sure I can see my son again."

"Immortal…" murmured the Doctor, the expression on his face hardening. "This is what the Bronzolov wanted all along. It wasn't a coincidence that he chose this ship."

"Will it work?" asked Martha, turning back to the Doctor.

"No. It will not," he said, turning towards Doctor Lang as he spoke. "What is it you're after? Why do you want my ship?"

"It's filled with the correct energy. I want to use it; I need to use it," he said, his hands starting to shake as he held the helmet.

"Do you even know what it is? What this energy is?" asked the Doctor, taking a few steps forward, his brow furrowed.

Doctor Lang shook his head, swallowing loudly. He looked down at the helmet he held in his hands and both Martha and the Doctor could see the saddened look in his eyes.

"Does it matter…" he said quietly. "My son's on the brink of death. If I fail, Mr Weyland will pull the plug. If I manage it… If I succeed, my son will be too far gone to be saved."

"I'm starting to really dislike this Mr Weyland…" muttered the Doctor before looking back at Lang. "I promise you that if you don't do this, we'll have a talk with this Mr Weyland."

"He has the data…" said doctor Lang. "Even if I don't do this… he won't stop."

The Doctor turned back to look at Martha, noticing how Avery appeared in the doorway, gasping at the sight before her.

"What's going on?" asked Avery, walking up to stand next to Martha. "Doctor Lang?"

"I'm going to save my boy," said Lang, shaking his head as tears started to appear in his eyes while he started to work on his helmet, checking the wires and the contraption one extra time. "I'm going to save him…"

"Doctor Lang, if you do this, you don't know what the artron energy is going to do to you-"

"Artron energy? Is that what you call it?" asked doctor Lang, shaking his head, the helmet still in his hands.

Suddenly, he stopped, almost as though he froze. His gaze slowly wandered over to the Doctor, Avery and Martha, tears now visible in his eyes. His eyes looked as clear as sunlight and something told the three of them, that he had made up his mind about something. Something that they weren't going to be happy about.

"No, I'm not going to save him," said doctor Lang. "I'm going to be with him."

"Doctor-" started the Doctor, however he was stopped by Avery as she placed a hand on his arm.

"Don't…" she said, shaking her head. "Let him."

The Doctor gave her an incredulous look, not quite understanding why she was hindering him from saving the doctor. Before either of them knew it, Scott Lang had put on the helmet, a red button resting in his hands.

"Doctor, what'll happen to him? Doctor?" asked Martha as she looked between him and Lang, worry latching onto her.

Avery, on the other hand, was calm. She didn't know why, but there was something inside of her – a voice – telling her that letting Lang do this was the right choice; that it was what he wanted and that she shouldn't get in between him and his wishes. Although she knew deep down that it was stupid and that she should stop him from killing himself, the voice seemed stronger and it almost felt as though it was overpowering her.

It was the same for the Doctor. However, it wasn't a voice inside of him that was telling him what to do. For some reason, Avery's hand on his arm kept him from doing what he wanted to do; rip the helmet away from him and save the man's life. For some reason, the hand felt heavy and as though he _couldn't_ say against her. Therefore, his gaze was latched onto Avery, his mind trying to figure out why this woman had popped up twice already and why she felt so important to him. Whatever it was, he was going to figure it out now that she was going with him.

It wasn't until Martha's voice got through to him that the Doctor looked back at Scott Lang. However, it was too late then. Lang had pushed the button and a golden light was pushing through the cables towards him, entering his veins and his body. At first, Lang simply looked at the three before them, a calm look in his eyes. However, as the golden light got more intense, he started to scream. Martha looked away, a horrified look on her face while both the Doctor and Avery kept watching. The energy bursting through Lang made a soft wind appear which brushed through the Doctor's and Avery's hair as they stared at the light engulfing Lang. They both narrowed their eyes at the bright light, though soon enough, the light disappeared within only a few seconds along with doctor Lang.

"Where did he go?" asked Martha quietly, a choking silence filling the storage room.

"The artron energy caused him to disintegrate," said the Doctor silently, walking away from the two women and towards where Lang had been standing earlier, only his helmet being left. "You're breathing in his molecules…"

Martha frowned, glancing over at Avery who mirrored her expression.

"Why didn't you stop him?" asked Martha, causing the Doctor to look over at her.

Swiftly, he glanced at Avery once before raising his eyebrows slightly and biting down as he breathed in deeply. "We can't save everyone."

"But we could've saved him," continued Martha, glancing between Avery and the Doctor, suddenly realizing the truth and quietening down.

"Well," said the Doctor, removing the cables from the Tardis, grabbing the mechanism in his hands before opening the doors, "Let's move on!"

Martha walked inside after the Doctor, Avery slowly following too. She felt guilty and confused, still not understanding what had happened. Before entering, she glanced back at the place where Lang had been standing earlier, her eyes saddening slightly.

A gasp escaped her lips as she entered the Tardis, her eyes widening and her confusion only growing. The Doctor had dumped the helmet in the corner of the control room and was currently running around the controls frantically, seeming to be pushing buttons randomly instead of actually doing something. Martha was watching Avery with an amused look on her face.

"Freaky, isn't it?" asked Martha, causing the Doctor to stop and look over at Avery, his brow furrowed.

"Freaky?" he asked, sounding offended before his frown suddenly turned into a childish grin as he watched Avery run up to the controls, her eyes scanning her environment.

"It's…" she said. "Bigger on the inside."

"Yup," said the Doctor, popping the p at the end. "Now! Where to?"

"What?" breathed Avery, still a little disorientated.

"Future… past… present… Earth… Mars… you name it!" said the Doctor, jumping over towards the controls again.

Martha smiled widely, leaning against the railing. "Newcomers get to choose."

"Uh…" said Avery, finally looking over at the Doctor again. "It's bigger on the inside."

"Yeah, Time Lord technology. You'll get used to it," said the Doctor.

"No you won't," added Martha, earning a smug look from the Doctor.

"Anywhere but the present," said Avery, smiling widely.

"Future it is!" exclaimed the Doctor before pulling a lever, the Tardis immediately shaking which made both women grab each other before holding onto the railing, laughter erupting from the three of them as the Tardis flew off, leaving the ship Avery had been working on as well as Avery's past life.

"Allons-y!"

* * *

 **Look at me updating and sh*t! Damn! :P Kidding, but it was a pretty long time ago that I updated this and I want to apologize for that. I lost all inspiration I had for this story but! I have it back now. In fact, I have better ideas than I had at first. :D It doesn't mean that the updates are going to be coming and faster... But it's not going to take months until the next update, I promise :P**


	22. Book III: Day of the Doctor

**Day of the Doctor**

* * *

 **Plot:**

When Martha and Avery go to bed, what does the Doctor do? On accident, Avery finds out what and without properly thinking it through, she goes out to search for the Doctor. What will happen when there's not only one Doctor, but three Doctors who all need to cooperate in order to solve the mystery before them? And what will happen when a future regeneration of the Doctor recognizes Avery in a way she hadn't thought was possible?

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Doctor Who! The BBC does! I only own my own characters and their own stories.

* * *

 **A/N**

So, onwards to the next story. This is going to follow, as you probably realized from the title, the 50th anniversary special of Doctor Who :D

I hope this turns out alright. I just thought it would be interesting to see the reaction of eleven and 'nine' when they meet Avery just to see what the Doctor actually thinks of Avery as well as what might and might not happen to her in the future ;) Okay, no more spoilers, just enjoy! Oh, and I hope you all enjoyed book II! I did try very hard to keep with the updates and I'm sorry that there was such a big gap between one of these previous chapters... I don't really have a good reason for it except that I didn't feel motivated to write on this particular story. But I will not abandon it! I'm just not going to force myself to update since it will turn out badly if I do. Hence why it says slow updates. Sorry about that :/


	23. Prologue

**Day of the Doctor**

* * *

 **~Prologue~**

"Feels like a privilege, doesn't it?" asked Avery, a wide smile on her lips. "Having a key to the Tardis, I mean."

"It means he trusts us," said Martha, mirroring her smile.

The two women stopped their walk to their rooms, to excitedly jump up and down slightly before the both of them took deep breaths, laughing at their antics.

"I mean, not that he didn't already trust _you_ ," said Martha, bumping her elbow into Avery's side while they continued to walk.

"And what do you mean by that?" asked Avery.

"Well, I simply mean that the way he looks at you kind of implies he does more than just trust you," said Martha, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

"Please," said Avery, rolling her eyes. "The Doctor doesn't look at me any differently than he looks at you."

"If you say so," replied Martha, shrugging while continuing to smile widely.

"I'm just glad to be back again," said Avery, deciding to change the subject. "I mean… we could've died."

"When do we not almost die?" asked Martha, earning a giggle from Avery. "Though, I have to admit. This time, it was a close one."

They had just arrived back from the ship S.S. _Pentallian_ , where they had saved the ship from a star, that turned out to be a living being that only wanted its parts, which they had used for fuel, back. It had been stressful and the Doctor himself had almost died as well. Or at least, he would have regenerated.

"True," replied Avery. "I just need a long shower and a bed to sleep in at the moment."

Martha hummed; "Amen to that."

* * *

Tossing and turning, Avery tried her best to sleep. Though something was keeping her from doing so. A strange feeling inside of her head.

Sitting up in her bed, she looked over at her nightstand table, seeing her fob watch lying there. For a moment, she thought it was the watch that was keeping her from staying awake. Though she quickly realized how stupid that thought was and brushed it away from her mind, deciding that all she needed was a change of scenery. Usually, when she couldn't sleep, she went to the Doctor to talk to him for a while, seeing as he barely ever slept, until she felt sleepy enough to try again. And so, she put on a pair of sweatpants underneath her shirt before making her way towards the control room. Avery had never been able to sleep with pants on as it made her feel like she was unable to move. Hence why she had to put on pants before making her way over to the Doctor.

When she arrived at the control room, however, the Doctor was nowhere to be seen. Instead, she was met with an empty room. The engines weren't running, which meant that the Tardis had landed and therefore, Avery quickly decided to check if the Doctor was outside of the Tardis. If she didn't find him there, she'd just give up since the Tardis was unbelievably large and she would never be able to find him there.

Outside, the sun was shining down onto a large, green field. Around the field, a forest existed and it was quite beautiful there. Though the Doctor was nowhere to be seen. What she did see was a picnic blanket with food standing in the tall grass beside it, indicating that someone had indeed been there.

Realizing that the Doctor had to be somewhere out there, Avery quickly closed the doors again before running back to her room, changing into a pair of jeans and an ordinary white shirt with a black cardigan over it. After having brushed through her hair quickly, she made her way back to the control room and out through the front doors of the Tardis.

The sun felt nice and warm on her skin and although she knew this wasn't going to help her sleep at all, her curiosity was stronger than her urge to sleep. Walking past the picnic blanket, she made her way towards the forest. Obviously, she knew there was absolutely no way she was going to find the Doctor in the forest, though maybe she would be lucky.

Which, in a way, she was too. She heard a woman's scream once she reached the beginning of the forest and immediately, she started to run towards the sound of it. As expected when you hear a sound and follow it through a forest, Avery got lost quite quickly. She stopped running when her lungs told her to and she leaned against a tree, catching her breath for quite some time before she heard yet another thing that made her start to run again.

"Doctor!"

Again, it was a woman who had called and Avery immediately followed the sound of the call, hoping it actually was the Doctor who the woman had called for and not someone else. If the Doctor was actually still on board, Avery would truly be lost especially if the Doctor didn't know she had left and decided to leave the planet they currently were on. Which Avery assumed was Earth since she still hadn't seen any evidence that pointed to it being an alien planet.

A smile appeared on Avery's face when she saw the outlines of three people, one clearly being the Doctor as she recognized his suit, spiky hair and skinny body.

"Doctor!" called Avery.

The three figures turned towards her as she arrived, her breathing labored from the running.

"Avery?" asked the Doctor, his eyes wide and confused as he looked at her. "What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't sleep," replied Avery, smiling widely before she frowned, looking at the mechanism he was holding. "What is _that_?"

"Not being able to sleep isn't a valid excuse to go outside of the Tardis on your own," said the Doctor.

"Well, I was curious-"

"Doctor, who is this woman?"

Avery looked over at the two remaining figures before gawking slightly. There stood two women who looked exactly identical to one another, both staring at Avery with the same confusion and slight despise. They were both wearing a style of dresses that Avery was not accustomed to at all, not even museums in her time having that sort of clothing anymore. Though she did know that that was the clothing richer people used to wear before the 21st century. After all, she had paid attention at ancient history classes at school.

"Uh-" started the Doctor before something even stranger happened.

A strange light formed as a tornado though seeming to hang in mid-air, appeared behind the two women and the Doctor quickly pushed the two women behind him.

"Back, both of you, now," said the Doctor, Avery watching the light with curious eyes. "That's a time fissure, a tear in the fabric of reality. Anything could happen!"

Avery walked over to stand behind the Doctor, both unknown women watching her.

"Like what?" asked Avery.

Suddenly, something dropped from the fissure, landing at the Doctor's feet. As the two of them looked at the thing that had fallen from the fissure, Avery only felt more confused than she had felt before.

"For instance… A fez."


	24. Chapter 1, All About The Fez

**Day of the Doctor**

* * *

 **~Chapter 1~  
All About The Fez**

"A fez?" asked Avery, watching the Doctor crouch down in front of the fez, a confused look on his face. She joined him, leaning into him slightly to get a better look on the hat laying in front of them. "This is a joke."

"A very harmful one too in that case. Those fissures can be damaging to the structure of the universe," said the Doctor, pointing up to the fissure.

Suddenly, the fissure seemed to bulge slightly, causing both the Doctor and Avery to stand back up again. While Avery backed up slightly, the Doctor only put on the fez, earning an eye-roll from Avery.

"What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" exclaimed the Doctor irritably before suddenly, a man fell down from the fissure, landing in the leaves on the ground, silencing the two bickering friends immediately.

As the man stood up, he immediately looked over at the Doctor, gaping slightly at the Doctor as though he had just seen himself in the mirror for the first time. The man looked odd, wearing old-style clothes and a bowtie while a seemingly childish aura hung around him mixed in with a tinge of seriousness. Though it wasn't the clothes or the lack of eyebrows that caused Avery to find the new man odd, it was the fact that his eyes were so familiar. They looked so old and so wise that they reminded her a lot about the Doctor's eyes, though the colour was different.

With intrigued eyes, Avery watched as the man walked over to the Doctor, neither of them breaking eye-contact.

"Who is this man?" one of the women behind her asked.

"That's just what I was wondering," said the Doctor quietly.

"Oh, that is skinny," started the unknown man, turning to the side as if comparing himself with the Doctor. "That is proper skinny! I've never seen it from the outside. It's like a special effect!"

The man walked up to the Doctor and as he swooped the fez off of the Doctor's head, he said: "Oi! Matchstick man!"

The two of them stared into each other's eyes for a while longer, seeming to be investigating each other when the Doctor said; "You're not…?"

When the Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver from an inside pocket of his suit, the man before him copied him, taking out something that looked like a sonic screwdriver too.

The familiar sound of the screwdriver being turned on was heard and Avery watched as the unknown man made his screwdriver open up so it was slightly bigger and longer than the Doctor's.

"Compensating?" asked the Doctor.

"For what?" asked the unknown man, frowning slightly.

"Regeneration – It's a lottery," explained the Doctor as he turned off his screwdriver again.

"Oh, he's cool," taunted the unknown man as they both threw their screwdrivers in the air, catching them at the same time in a very synchronized way. "Isn't he cool? 'I'm the Doctor and I'm all cool – oops, I'm wearing sandshoes!'"

Avery giggled at that, causing the Doctor to look back at her with a frown.

"He has a point, though," said Avery, biting her lip before turning to the unknown man, walking up to him. "Hi, I'm Avery Parsons."

The unknown man's eyes widened slightly, a strange look appearing in his eyes as he looked at her. She kept smiling at him, waiting for him to react, her hand outstretched to him.

"Right… Avery," he said, coughing slightly before grabbing her hand loosely. "I'm the Doctor."

"Huh?"

"Future Doctor," explained the Doctor.

Avery frowned, watching as the man looked away from her as he let go of her hand.

"You're kidding, right?" asked Avery, looking back over at her Doctor who simply gave her a serious look before turning back to the future Doctor. "Oh… you're not…"

"What are you doing here? I'm busy," said the Doctor, leaning forwards slightly as he gestured back to the two female behind him and Avery.

"Oh, busy. I see, is that what we're calling it?" asked the future Doctor as he went to pick up the fez from the ground again, putting it on before turning to the two females, bowing down to them. "Hello, ladies."

"Don't start," said the Doctor, annoyance dripping from his words.

"Listen, what you get up to in the privacy of your own regeneration is your business," said the future Doctor, looking back at himself again.

"Yeah, but it's also my business. Who are they?" asked Avery, pointing to the twins.

"Ooo," said the future Doctor with a frown on his face as he looked between his past self and Avery. "Girlfriend meets sidechicks."

"Oi," said the Doctor while Avery only frowned at his words.

"Girlfriend?" asked Avery.

"Look, one of them is a Zygon," said the Doctor in a low voice to his future self to which he frowned in disgust.

"I'm not judging you," the future Doctor said, holding his hands up.

The two looked away from the twins when the fissure started to make noises again. Both Doctors walked up to it, taking out their glasses from their pockets and putting them on simultaneously which, in other less confusing circumstances, would've been funny to Avery. Though, instead of feeling amused, she felt confused and joined the two Doctors as they looked up at the fissure. When they noticed they both were wearing glasses, smiles appeared on their faces and the two of them both pointed at the other while saying; "lovely," in a high pitched voice.

"Can we just, for a second, be serious and figure out what caused this fissure?" asked Avery, causing both Time Lords to grow serious again, nodding their heads.

The future Doctor turned back to the two twins, taking off his glasses as he approached them.

"Your majesties… probably a good time to run," said the future Doctor, earning another frown from Avery.

"Majesties?" asked Avery to her Doctor to which he simply cleared his throat.

"Long story…" he said, taking off his glasses again.

"But what about the creature?" asked both women at the same time.

"Elizabeth, whichever one of you is the real one, turn and run in the opposite direction to the other one," said the Doctor.

"Of course, my love," replied both women at the same time again before one of them ran up to the Doctor.

"Stay alive, my love. I am not done with you yet," she said before grabbing his face and kissing him passionately.

"Thanks," he said as she let go of him and ran off, the future Doctor looked at him with a stunned look on his face as the other woman ran up to the Doctor.

"I understand. Live for me, my darling. We shall be together again," the other woman said before kissing him too and running away.

Avery watched with the same, stunned look on her face that the future Doctor had, a feeling of hurt evident in her chest as well. She noticed the future Doctor glancing at her and she gave him a wondering look to which he only shrugged.

"Well, won't that be nice," said the Doctor, wiping his lips.

"One of those was a Zygon," said the future Doctor, pointing at his past self.

"Yeah…"

"Big red, rubbery thing. Covered in suckers."

"Yeah."

"Venom sacks in the tongue."

"Yeah, I'm getting the point, thanks," said the Doctor before glancing back over at Avery who rolled her eyes at him.

 _"Doctor, is that you?"_

"Ah, hello Clara! Can you hear me?" asked the future Doctor, walking up to the fissure from which the voice had come from.

Avery looked up at the fissure, a small part of her hoping she could catch a glimpse of her future self too just to see what would happen with her physically after all the time-travelling. Though she doubted the Doctor would let her what with all the rules he had.

 _"Yeah, it's me. We can hear you. Where are you?"_ the female voice asked again.

"Where are we?" asked the future Doctor to himself.

"England, 1562," replied the Doctor.

 _"Who are you talking to?"_

"Myself," replied both Doctors at the same time, causing them to look at each other and grin again.

 _"Can you come back through?"_ a different voice asked.

Avery was slightly disappointed that the second voice didn't belong to her. Though seeing as Martha wasn't there with them either, maybe they both were in the Tardis, just like Martha was at the moment. She refrained from thinking any negative thoughts about why she wasn't there, seeing as she wanted to keep believing that she would stay with the Doctor forever.

"Physical passage may not to be possible in both directions. It's… Ah!" the future Doctor said, pointing a finger up in the air before taking off his fez. "Hang on. Fez incoming!"

As he said this, he threw the fez up into the air and through the fissure. A silence came afterwards before a voice was heard through the fissure again.

 _"Nothing here."_

"So where did it go?" asked the Doctor, the three of them exchanging confused looks.

"Am I up there too?" asked Avery before shaking her head. "I mean, there in the future."

The future Doctor looked at her, the same look in his eyes that he had earlier when she had greeted him.

"Can I meet myself?" asked Avery, looking between the two Doctors.

"You most certainly cannot," said the Doctor, pointing a finger at her. "It's bad enough that you're here and not in bed. I'm not letting you create a parallel universe on accident just because you wanted to see the older you."

"Wait, that can happen if I meet myself?" asked Avery, her eyes widening.

"Maybe…" said the Doctor, his voice not sounding as sure as it usually was, indicating to Avery that it was just a bad excuse to keep her from seeing herself.

"It'll be a little hard to meet yourself too seeing as you're not there," said the future Doctor, his eyes on the ground.

"Huh? Why not?" asked Avery, placing herself in front of both Doctors, her eyes on the future Doctor before they shifted over to her own Doctor. "I thought you said I could travel with you for as long as I wanted!"

"Maybe you didn't want to travel with me anymore," suggested the future Doctor, offering her a smile to which she only frowned.

"I want to travel with you until I die," said Avery, crossing her arms over her chest.

The future Doctor stiffened at her words, turning away from her. Both Avery and the Doctor noticed how oddly he had reacted to this and they shared a concerned look.

"Doctor?" asked Avery, walking over to the future Doctor. "I'm sorry-"

"The fez must've landed somewhere," said the future Doctor, spinning back around and walking past Avery without even looking at her. "So, there's a third fissure somewhere connected to this one."

"Leading where?" asked the Doctor, looking away from Avery's distraught and worried face.

"I don't know…" replied the future Doctor before turning back to his past self, a look on his face telling Avery that he was deep in his own thoughts.

She watched them as they continued to discuss the possibilities of where the fissure could lead more than to wherever the future Doctor had come from, realizing just how much they were alike each other. Of course, the future Doctor was different physically. But the way they looked at things with their eyes and the way they seemed to be goofy and intelligent at the same time was just the same. The only thing different was that the future Doctor was less… calm. Though calm wouldn't be the word Avery would use to describe her Doctor. It was more of a strange sadness or anger that hung over the Doctor, keeping him from being in touch with his goofy side for too long. She wondered if that sadness was from him losing his own people during the Time War, as he had told her and Martha a little while back. And she also wondered if the shock of it all had settled down over the years that the future Doctor had spent alive which was the reason for why he was more energetic. Though she doubted someone as the Doctor would just get over something as big as that. Perhaps he tried to forget…

 _"Time Lady."_

"Huh?"

"Oh, it's too complicated to explain," said the future Doctor, waving his hand about, thinking she had been referring to what he had said.

"No, did you hear that?" asked Avery, turning around to try and find the source of the female voice she had just heard.

"Hear what?" asked the Doctor, narrowing his eyes slightly as he watched her spin around on the spot.

"Did you hear a female voice whisper something in your ear?" asked the future Doctor, causing the present Doctor to look at him.

"Y-Yeah," replied Avery, glancing over at him.

"Don't listen to it," said the future Doctor, walking over to her, looking her deep in the eyes. "Not yet."

"What do you mean?" she asked quietly.

"Just… don't listen to it yet," he repeated himself, placing his hands on her upper arms and squeezing them slightly, a soft smile appearing on his lips. "Your time is coming."

"You're confusing me," she said.

"Oops," he suddenly exclaimed, jumping away from her. "Spoilers…"

"Okay…" replied the Doctor, exchanging a look with Avery as the future Doctor walked back over to his past self. "You used to be me, you've done all this before – what happens next?"

Avery was glad he had changed the subject. A dark feeling had washed over her as the Doctor had said those things to her even though she didn't understand any of it and her thoughts had started to wander over to negative reasons to why she wasn't with the future Doctor, thoughts that scared her.

"I don't remember," replied the future Doctor.

"How can you forget _this_!?" exclaimed the Doctor, gesturing to the two of them.

"Hey, hang on, it's not _my_ fault. You've obviously not paying enough attention," replied the future Doctor before a sudden thought struck him. "Reverse the polarity!"

The two Doctors took out their screwdrivers before pointing it at the fissure. For a while, Avery watched them simply do this, the familiar sound of the screwdrivers filling her ears. Though nothing happened.

"It's not working," said the future Doctor.

"We're both reversing the polarity," said the Doctor.

"Yes, I know that," replied the future Doctor, seeming annoyed that his past self would think he didn't realize that.

"There's two of us," continued the Doctor before Avery cut in.

"The Doctor's reversing it and you're reversing it back again," said Avery, causing both Time Lords to look back at her.

"Oh…" replied the future Doctor.

"We're confusing the polarity," said the Doctor, causing a smile to appear on Avery's lips, much to his delight.

"Hold on, I'm the Doctor too, you know," said the future Doctor as they both stopped pointing their screwdrivers at the fissure.

"I know. Just not my Doctor," replied Avery with a shrug of her shoulders to which the Doctor smirked.

With a grunt and a glare pointed towards his past self, the future Doctor turned back to the fissure just in time to catch it bulging once more. Though what came through gave a stronger reaction than the future Doctor's appearance had given.

"Anyone lose a fez?"


	25. Chapter 2, Sandshoes, Sexy and Grandad

**Day of the Doctor**

* * *

 **~Chapter 2~  
Sandshoes, Sexy and Grandad**

"Anyone lose a fez?"

The older man stood underneath the fissure, looking at the two Doctor's before him and Avery with kind eyes, a fez resting in his hands. He tilted his head slightly to the right, watching the two men as they gawked at him, much to Avery's confusion.

"Uh, actually, yeah," said Avery, beginning to walk up to the older man.

However, before she could reach him, both Doctors had put an arm around her and pushed her behind them.

"You," said the Doctor, the two of them keeping their place in front of Avery as if they thought the old man in front of them could jump her and kill her. "How can you be here? More to the point, WHY are you here?"

Avery furrowed her brow, realizing the two Doctors knew the man.

"I'm looking for the Doctor," said the older man, earning a chuckle from Avery.

"Well, you've certainly come to the right place," said the Doctor quietly.

"Good! Right, well, who are you younglings?" asked the old man, though, before any of them could reply, he continued talking. "Oh, of course! Are you his companions?"

"His companion?" asked the future Doctor despondently, earning another smile from Avery.

"Not so fun to be degraded into _just_ a companion, huh?" asked Avery with a smug look on her face.

"Quiet," both Doctors said in unison, earning a pout from Avery.

"They do get younger all the time," he said, as if he was thinking back on something in particular. "Well, if you would point me in the general direction of the Doctor…"

With a smirk, Avery watched as both Doctors took out their sonic screwdrivers and held them up for the older man to see. It took some time for the man to react, but when he finally did, Avery only grew more confused.

"Really?" the old man asked.

"Yeah," replied the future Doctor.

"Really," replied the Doctor.

"You're me? Both of you?" asked the old man.

"Yep," said the Doctor.

"Even that one?" asked the old man, pointing towards the future Doctor.

"Yes," said the future Doctor bitterly.

"You're my future selves?" asked the old man.

"Yes!" replied both Doctors.

Avery shook her head, taking a step back from the scene and letting the three of them continue talking. It was all quite strange to her. The older man was the Doctor's past – while the younger ones were the older ones. It all gave her a headache and she wished she had just gone back to bed. In that case, she wouldn't have gotten herself in this mess and she would probably be sound asleep, unaware of all of this just like Martha.

"Why are you pointing your screwdrivers like that? They're scientific instruments, not water pistols. Look like you've seen a ghost!" exclaimed the past Doctor.

With a roll of her eyes, she walked up to the Doctors and placed herself in the middle of them.

"Will you stop behaving like children and start coming up with a reasonable explanation to why this is happening?" asked Avery calmly, pointing her finger at the two younger looking Doctors who both lowered their sonic screwdrivers. "You're all the same man. So stop behaving like you've never seen your reflection before and work together as the Doctor I know and love-like as a friend."

Silence hung in the air after her words and a blush creeped up towards her cheeks. Could this day get any worse?

"Ah! I do remember this now!" said the future Doctor suddenly, pointing a finger at Avery before looking at the Doctor again. "I suppose you _are_ paying attention."

The future Doctor once more looked back at Avery and the smile on his face faded away at the glare she sent him. Of all the comments he could say in an awkward moment like this, it just had to be that one. As she glanced at her Doctor, she could see him thinking the exact same thing.

"Why, I don't think we were ever introduced?" asked the past Doctor, causing Avery to turn around towards him, a blush still evident on her cheeks.

"Yes, no, we weren't," said Avery, clearing her throat and taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. "I'm Avery Parsons. Companion of, uh, the Doctor in sandshoes."

"Ah, yes," said the past Doctor, shaking her hand with a kind smile offered to her. "I see why he chose you."

"They're not sandshoes," said the Doctor.

"Yes, they are," replied the future Doctor.

Before Avery could come with yet another smug comment, the sound of shouts and footsteps were heard coming from their left and before they knew it, they were encircled by multiple men, all pointing their crossbows at them with furious and determined looks on their faces. They wore medieval clothes and although their crossbows and pikes didn't look all that threatening considering the weapons she was used to from her time - Avery knew that an arrow to the knee could hurt quite badly anyway and put her hands up.

An arm was draped around Avery's waist as the three Doctor's placed their backs to each other, Avery being placed between the future Doctor and her Doctor, both of which once again had their screwdrivers out. Much to her surprise, it was the future Doctor who had his arm draped around her, holding her close.

"Which of you is the Doctor?" asked one of the men, taking a step forwards. "The Queen of England is bewitched. I would have the Doctor's head."

"Well, this has all the makings of your lucky day," said the past Doctor, indicating the fact that there were three Doctors standing before the medieval soldier.

 _"I think there's three of them now."_

The voice came from the fissure and Avery recognized it as Clara's, the future Doctor's companion.

 _"There's a precedent for that,"_ the second, unknown voice said.

"What is that?" asked the medieval soldier as he suddenly seemed to notice the fissure from where the voices came.

"Oh, the pointing again. They're screwdrivers! What are you going to do, assemble a cabinet at them?" asked the past Doctor, making Avery giggle especially because of the defeated way the two Doctors put back their screwdrivers.

"That thing… what witchcraft is it?" asked the medieval soldier.

"Doctor," said Avery, turning to the future Doctor who still had his arm around Avery protectively. "Witchcraft…"

Clearly understanding what she meant, the future Doctor let go of her and took a step forwards, waving his arms about in a silly way as he did this; "Ah! Yes! Now that you mention it, that is witchcraft, yes, yes, yes. Witchy-witchcraft." He glanced over at Avery once before walking over to the fissure, clasping his hands together as he spoke up to it; "Hello? Hello in there? Excuse me. Hello! Am I talking to the wicked witch of the well?"

 _"He means you,"_ said the unknown voice, all four of them looking up at the fissure hopefully while the medieval soldiers all looked up at the fissure in angst.

 _"Why am I the witch?"_

"Clara?" asked the future Doctor, a slight tinge of annoyance being heard in his voice.

 _"Hello?"_ her voice was heard again.

"Clara, hi, hello," said the future Doctor, seeming relieved that his companion understood his plan. "Hello, would you mind telling these prattling mortals to get themselves begone?"

"People didn't actually talk like that in the past, right? I mean… begone?" asked Avery quietly, leaning towards her Doctor slightly so that only he could hear her.

"Oh, yes they did," replied the Doctor quietly. "Don't you remember Shakespeare?"

"Well, yeah, but I just thought they were all talking like that since they were theatre guys," replied Avery back.

The Doctor snorted, shaking his head at her. Their focus was placed back on the situation at hand when the medieval soldiers all suddenly gasped and started back. Clara had obviously said something awful that scared them.

"Oh, frogs!" exclaimed the future Doctor, almost making Avery snort. "Nice… You heard her."

 _"Doctor, what's going on?"_

"It's a timey-wimey thing," said the future Doctor.

"Timey… what? Time wimey?" asked the past Doctor, looking utterly confused.

"He probably picked that up from this one here," said Avery, nodding her head over to her Doctor.

"Oi," said the Doctor, sending a playful glare her way.

"The queen!"

The sudden outburst from the medieval soldiers caused the four time travellers to straighten up. As the soldiers all bowed down, kneeling down in front of their queen, the queen did indeed walk towards them and much to Avery's surprise, it was one of the twins before. Though it shouldn't have surprise her that much since they had been called 'majesties' and this was the Doctor. He never did anything low-key.

"You don't seem to be kneeling," said the queen, walking towards them confidently. "How tremendously brave of you."

"Which one are you?" asked the Doctor, the four time travellers lining up in one row as they looked at the queen. "What happened to the other one?"

"Indisposed," said the queen, a strange, evil smirk appearing on her lips. "Long live the queen…"

"Long live the queen!" repeated the soldiers, almost startling Avery.

"Arrest these men. Take them to the Tower," said the, apparently fake, queen.

The moment she had said those words, all soldiers started moving towards them and again, the future Doctor wrapped an arm around Avery's waist. Avery's Doctor pointed towards the fake-queen; "That is not the Queen of England - that is an alien duplicate!"

"And you can take it from him, 'cause he's actually checked," said the future Doctor, causing the present Doctor to look over at him.

"Oh, shut up!" he exclaimed before his gaze caught sight of his future self's arm around Avery. "What are you doing?"

However, the future Doctor didn't bother to reply to his question as he continued to talk, nonchalantly letting go of Avery again and taking a step forwards, the soldiers having stopped moving seeing as the Doctor's words had confused them slightly.

"Venom sacs in the tongue…"

"No, seriously, stop it," said the Doctor, now turning fully to face his future self, earning nothing but a gleeful smirk.

"No, hang on," said the future Doctor suddenly, his smirk fading and a serious look taking over instead as he turned back to the fake-queen. "The Tower! Did you say the Tower? Ah, yes, brilliant, love the Tower. Breakfast at eight, please. Will there be Wi-Fi?"

"Doctor…" warned Avery, seeing the anger rising on the fake-queen's face.

"Are you capable of speaking without flapping your hands about?" asked the past Doctor, the anger rising even more in the fake-queen's face seeing as no one was paying attention to her order anymore.

"Yes!" said the future Doctor, though as he turned back to his past self, he took notice of the fact that he had, indeed, 'flapped' his hands about when he had answered himself. "No…" Then he turned abruptly to the fake-queen again. "I demand to be incarcerated in the Tower immediately with my co-conspirators, Sandshoes, Sexy and Grandad!"

"Grandad?" asked the past Doctor, a tinge of hurt heard in his voice.

"They're not sandshoes," muttered the Doctor.

"Did he just call me sexy?"

"Silence!" exclaimed the fake-queen, Avery clasping her mouth shut at the outburst. "The Tower is not to be taken lightly! Arrest them!"

As Avery realized the future Doctor had a plan, seeing as he _wanted_ to be arrested, she let the soldiers grab her arms and force her to walk. The Doctor and the past Doctor both seemed to realize the same thing, seeing as they weren't struggling against the soldier's grip either and as they all walked in silence, only the sound of the soldier's armour clanking as they walked being heard, Avery kept getting strange glances from the fake-queen.

She wondered briefly what was going on. Three Doctors had found their way to the same spot, somehow, and now they were all being dragged away by a – what were they called again? – zygon and its soldiers who blindly followed it, not knowing it was an _it_. It was all strange and she wondered how they were going to get out of the mess and how they were going to get rid of the fake-queen without England losing one of their queens too early and messing up all of history.

Surely, though, they would make it through this too. Certainly since there now were _three_ Doctors. Though that might not mean a lot if all they did was criticize each other.

Another thing Avery was thinking about as they reached the Tower was; Why had the past Doctor jumped through the fissure? Why had either of them done so? She made a mental note to ask them at some point, that is if they ever got out of the Tower.


	26. Chapter 3, the Children of Gallifrey

**Ah! It's been so long! It honestly was even weird to get back into thinking as Avery :P I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened. I do have ideas, thousands of them actually, but I just didn't write them down for this very story. Anyway, I've written some now and I've also begun on the next chapter, if I push myself, I will be able to, hopefully, remove the 'slow updates' sentence from this story! Which is my main goal at the moment :)**

 **Hope you guys like the update and also forgive me for not updating sooner! Let me know what you guys think about the reaction the 'voice' had in this chapter, I'm curious to hear your theories :)**

* * *

 **Day of the Doctor**

* * *

 **~Chapter 3~  
The Children of Gallifrey**

It was damp, dark and creepy in the tower. A few torches were lit up infront of them so they could see, but apart from that there were no windows in the hallways to illuminate their path. This, in turn, caused Avery to stumble quite a few times, though luckily she only accidentally pressed her face against the back of the Doctor once, which was awkward enough to begin with. Not to mention that the future Doctor kept grabbing her shirt to steady her each time she did stumble. The way this man was comfortable in touching her so much started to bother her, though at the same time… there was also something rather hot about it; a thought she was not very proud of.

"Oi, you lot, get in there," said a guard in front of them, though Avery could not see him. The group halted and she heard the clanging of chains before the past Doctor was forced inside of the cell. The clanging resumed before the Doctor was pushed inside as well, causing Avery to come face to face with the guard.

He eyed her up and down once before smirking, his hands reached out towards her wrists, beginning to get rid of the chains they had put on them a while back, though the soldier's hands lingered unnecessarily long on her wrists before he pushed her into the cell. With a disgusted look she looked back at the guard before looking around herself, finding herself in a quite large room that was apparently their cell. Everything was made out of brick and a cold breeze coming from a tiny, tiny window caused her to shiver. Large pillars supported the ceiling, but there were no beds or any real place for them to 'relieve' themselves.

Suddenly, a fuzz was heard coming from the door followed by the guard yelling out an 'auw!' and a 'get in there!'. The future Doctor was pushed inside, the door closing behind him with a bang. He ran a hand through his hair, glancing at the others who were staring at him with questioning eyes.

"I punched him."

Avery raised her eyebrows, "Why?"

The future Doctor stared at her for a moment before turning away, beginning to walk around the room. He glanced at everything, clearly trying to find a way out. Avery, slightly annoyed by the future Doctor ignoring her question, turned to her Doctor who was leaning against a wall, looking rather annoyed. The past Doctor was sitting down by the door, a serious look on his face.

"So… How are we going to get out of this one?" asked Avery as she joined him in leaning against the wall.

She watched as the future Doctor picked up something metallic from the ground, a big smile on his face before he began to walk over to one of the pillars. To her astonishment, he began to scratch something on the pillar with the piece of metal he had found, surprising her greatly.

"The door's wooden, so no sonic screwdriver will work on it. The window's too small to get through… uh, I don't really know." Avery sighed at her Doctor's words. "But we will. One way or another. Actually," the Doctor raised his voice this time so the others could hear him as well, "Three of us in one room is going to cause some nasty anomalies if we don't get out soon. Anyone got a plan?"

The future Doctor simply continued to scratch something on the pillar.

"What are you doing?" asked the Doctor, walking over to him with Avery behind him.

"Getting us out," replied the future Doctor as though it was obvious. Avery glanced at the scratchings, seeing simply lines and doodles.

"I think he's lost his mind," whispered Avery into the Doctor's ear, earning a nod of his head.

"Okay, so," began the Doctor, placing himself in the middle of the door, "The Queen of England is now a Zygon - Never mind that. Why are we all together? Why are we all here?"

Avery did not miss the way both the Doctor and her future Doctor looked at the past Doctor with such darkness, such intensity, as though the question was really only directed towards the past Doctor. The tension between the past Doctor and the others was massive, and Avery wondered what he had done to cause such hatred towards him.

"Me and Chinny, we were surprised, but you came _looking_ for us," said the Doctor, and Avery narrowed her eyes, now also seeing it. "You knew it was going to happen. Who told you?"

"Oi!" exclaimed the future Doctor, "'Chinny'?"

Avery rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, you do have a chin."

"Great…" mumbled the future Doctor before returning to his scratching.

The past Doctor simply stayed quiet, staying seated where he was. Avery watched as her Doctor was riddled with frustration at getting no answer, though she could also see how his mind was working still to figure out how to get out. So, she let him be as he began to pace back and forth, a finger on his chin as he thought hard.

Instead, she moved to the future Doctor, leaning against the pillar. He paused his scratching with the metal piece of junk to glance at her and she offered him a smile.

"So…" she began. "Are any of us going to remember this?"

"Probably not," shrugged the future Doctor. "Why?"

"I was just wondering… about the voice…"

"I'm not talking about it." The future Doctor shook his head before furiously beginning to scratch at the pillar again.

"But I don't get it. I hear it sometimes and it says Tim-"

"Please, just stop it."

Avery shut her mouth, staring at the future Doctor with surprised eyes. He was staring right back at her, not moving. His light eyes were riddled with emotions, strong ones that almost made her heart break even though she barely knew this particular Doctor.

Suddenly, his emotional and stern look softened and he did something that surprised her. He placed a hand on her cheek. Her entire being became overwhelmed with feelings she had never really experienced before, strong ones that made her insides flutter and tingle, while her cheeks reddened and she began to sweat. The last part was not the most attractive reaction, though it was still there and there was not much she could do to stop it. The future Doctor smiled at her and for a split second, she could see her Doctor staring back at her through his eyes.

"I've missed that." He removed his hand just as her Doctor paced past them, albeit he did not seem to have noticed what just happened.

"I really am not travelling with you anymore?" she asked quietly, sadly.

"Things change. People change. Lives… change…"

He blinked a few times before continuing to scratch.

"But I'm not talking about it. Spoilers."

Avery sighed, moving away from the future Doctor only to see the past Doctor now standing before the wooden door, scanning it with his version of a sonic screwdriver. As her Doctor went to pace past her again, still deep in his own thoughts, she grabbed his arm and stopped him. He went to protest, though she quickly pointed over to the past Doctor, causing her Doctor to sigh.

"In theory, I can trigger an isolated sonic shift among the molecules, and the door should disintegrate."

"Meaning you _can_ use it on wood?" asked Avery, her knowledge of space-technology, something you need to become a chief engineer on a space-ship, being the only thing that made her understand at least 50% of that sentence.

"We'd have to calculate the exact harmonic resonance of the entire structure down to a sub-atomic level. Even the sonic would take years," sighed the Doctor.

"No, no. The sonic would take centuries," corrected the past Doctor.

Avery rolled her eyes, "That's just worse, Doctor. And not helping with keeping up the hope."

"Oh, we might as well get started."

"We can't sit around and wait for centuries. Well… We can, but Avery can't. And I'm not letting her die," stated the Doctor, beginning to pace again.

Avery smiled at him, her heart warming up over his words.

"I think I'd die of boredom long before age in this place anyway. There's nothing to do to spend the time here."

"I can sense you're a smart girl. We can come up with some intellectual game," the past Doctor said, gesturing her over to him.

The Doctor stopped pacing and the future Doctor stopped scratching his doodles as Avery sat down next to the past Doctor with a smile towards the elderly – though also younger? - Doctor.

"To help pass the timey-wimey… Honestly, do you have to talk like children?" The past Doctor directed his question towards both other Doctors who were still staring at him and Avery. "What is it that makes you so ashamed of being grown-up?"

Suddenly, both Doctors looked away from him and Avery as though the past Doctor had struck a nerve.

"Oh, the way you both look at me. What is that? I'm trying to think of a better word than 'dread'."

"It must be really recent for you," said the Doctor with a quiet voice.

"Recent?"

"The Time War, the last day. The day you killed them all," explained the future Doctor.

"The day _we_ killed them all," corrected her Doctor.

"Same thing."

With a shake of his head, the Doctor turned around. Avery could sense he wanted to continue pacing, but his mind was too caught up with what had just come up in conversation.

"I don't talk about it," said the past Doctor suddenly.

"You're not talking about it. There's no-one else here," answered the Doctor, turning back towards him.

"Did you ever count?"

Avery began to feel uncomfortable to be around the Doctors, knowing she was overhearing a very deep and personal conversation. Yet, she could not help but wonder what the past Doctor was on about, and so she looked over at the other two Doctors expectantly, finding her Doctor already staring at her.

"Count what?" asked the future Doctor, pausing his scratching once more.

"How many children there were on Gallifrey that day?"

She figured they were talking about the day the Doctor lost his home world, and her heart sank.

 _Gallifrey…_

The voice came from behind her, though there was nothing more but a wall there. Ignoring it the way the future Doctor had asked her to do, she continued to listen to the Doctors.

"I have absolutely no idea," said the future Doctor simply.

"How old are you now?" asked the past Doctor.

"Ah, I don't know, I lost track. Twelve hundred and something, I think. Unless I'm lying, I can't remember if I'm lying about my age – that's how old I am," replied the future Doctor, still scratching his pillar.

"400 years older than me," counted the past Doctor, "And in all that time, you've never even wondered how many there were? You never once counted?"

Finally, the future Doctor stopped his work and turned towards the past Doctor, "Tell me, what would be the point?"

"2.47 billion." Avery looked over at her Doctor as he said this, his hands in his pocket and a sad look on his face. She recognized it from that one time when the Face of Boe revealed to him that he was not alone in the universe, or that one time they nearly lost Martha at the space-ship 42…

 _Gallifrey? Mum?_

Avery, trying her best not to let anyone notice she had once more heard the voice of the lady, turned her head to the left where the voice had come from. Though she did not see anything there.

 _Dad? Why are you leaving me!?_

"You did count!"

"You forgot?" asked the Doctor incredulously, watching as the future Doctor tried to resume his work on the pillar. "400 years? That's all it takes?"

"I moved on," replied the future Doctor, staring over at her Doctor.

"Where!? Where can you be now that you can forget something like that?!"

"Spoilers…"

"No. No, no, no. for once, I would like to know where I'm going," replied the Doctor.

"No. You really wouldn't."

The two stared at each other, tensions rising.

"I don't know who you are… either of you. I haven't got the faintest idea," mumbled the past Doctor.

Avery stood up and walked away from them, leaning against a wall with her arms hugging herself. There was so much she did not know about the Doctor, yet somehow it did not scare her off. Instead, what scared her, was the talk about the children and how the voice, just for a split second, had sounded like a child calling out for its parents.

Had the Doctor…? No. She removed the thought from her head before she had even had time to think it to the end. The Doctor would never do such a thing.


	27. Chapter 4, Plans Revealed

**Aye! I'm back! (I hope)**

 **Big thank you to everyone who followed and favorited!**

* * *

 **Day of the Doctor**

* * *

 **~Chapter 4~  
Plans Revealed and a... Wedding?**

"No." The past Doctor was glancing at something next to him.

"No?"

"Just… no!"

The future Doctor turned and leaned against his pillar, letting out a laugh which made both Avery and the Doctor furrow their brows.

"Is something _funny_? Did I miss a _funny_ thing?" asked the Doctor with a sassy tone to his voice.

"Sorry. It just occurred to me. This is what I'm like when I'm alone," said the future Doctor.

"What does that mean?" asked Avery, curious once more.

"Well, I'm me. But I'm also not me because of the new face. But the faces don't just die when I regenerate. They stay. Sometimes, if I'm alone, I can still hear all of them." The future Doctor smiled, though Avery only found it creepy.

"He makes it creepier than it is," explained the Doctor, as though he had read her mind.

The conversation died down, the Doctor, randomly, took out his screwdriver and began tossing it in the air. A face of seriousness returned to him, though the past Doctor intervened before he had the chance to get back to pacing.

"It's the same screwdriver…" he mumbled, glancing down at his own.

Avery looked over at the Doctors, quickly figuring it out as well.

"Same software," she added, walking over to the middle of the room, her eyes on the past Doctor who smiled at her.

"Different case," he added. "400 years!"

"Maybe…?" she mumbled, staring over at the future Doctor.

"Yeah, so?" asked her Doctor, still confused.

"You know, for a Time-Lord, you really are quite thick sometimes. He's you. His screwdriver is your screwdriver. And his screwdriver is currently running the calculation needed to get us out of here. Meaning, _your_ screwdriver is doing so too," she said, hastily walking over to the future Doctor and reaching into his pockets.

"Hey! Usually I ask for a drink first," he winked at her, causing her to chuckle dryly before she got a hold of his screwdriver, taking it out.

She pressed the button, hearing a soft 'ping' coming from it. Immediately, the future Doctor grabbed it with wide eyes.

"Calculation complete," he said before smiling widely, briefly hugging Avery before moving over to the door. "Eh, 400 years in four seconds. We may have our differences, which is frankly odd in the circumstances, but I tell you what, boys, we are incredibly clever!"

Avery gave him a look, causing the future Doctor to pout before he aimed his screwdriver at the door. However, before he could do anything, the door opened. A girl entered, smiling innocently at them. She wore clothes definitely not from the century they were in, telling Avery she was someone else than a guard or a visitor.

"How did you do that?" asked the future Doctor.

"It wasn't locked."

Avery rolled her eyes, glancing at all three Doctors who shrugged innocently at her.

"Thick…" she mumbled under her breath.

"So, they're both you, then, yeah?" asked the woman, the future Doctor standing next to her by now.

"Yes. You've met them before, don't you remember?"

Although Avery was confused about what the future Doctor had just said, she kept quiet about it.

"A bit," the woman replied before looking at the Doctor, "Nice suit."

Gushing with sudden pride, the Doctor beamed and smiled at her, "Thanks."

"Hang on. Three of you in one cell, and none of you thought to try the door?"

" _Thank you_ ," said Avery. "Although I take some blame as well." She walked over to the woman with her hand outstretched, "Companion of that Doctor?"

The woman smiled, "Yes. Clara Oswald. You a companion of _that_ Doctor?"

Avery glanced back at her Doctor, shaking Clara's hand, "Yup. Avery Parsons."

"A-Avery?"

Clara glanced back at the future Doctor who looked everywhere but at her. For a moment, she thought Clara's hold on her hand tightened, though suddenly, Clara had let go of her again.

"Nice meeting you," she smiled, although Avery could still see the shock in her eyes.

What was that all about?

"Why wasn't the door locked?" asked her Doctor, moving past Avery and Clara to inspect the door.

Though just as he did so, the queen suddenly entered the room again, "Because _I_ was fascinated to see what you would do upon escaping. I understand you're rather fond of this world. It's time, I think, you saw what's going to happen to it."

The queen lifted up her skirt before turning and walking away. Avery and the Doctor exchanged a glance, shrugged and followed the Zygon-Queen. The future Doctor glanced at Clara before following as well while Clara and the past Doctor walked together out through the door, both not quite trusting what was happening.

They walked for quite some time through the damp corridors, going up and down staircases. But eventually, they reached the place where they were being led to. The damp corridors suddenly changed and turned into more alien-looking corridors. Red lights hummed above them and soon they had reached a balcony that overlooked what the Zygons were doing. Avery and the Doctor stayed close to the queen, glancing down at the work they were doing.

"The Zygons lost their own world. It burned in the first days of the Time War. A new home is required," said the Zygon-Queen.

"So they want this one?" asked Clara from behind everyone.

"Not yet, far too primitive. Zygons are used to a certain level of comfort," explained the Zygon-Queen.

Down in the pit they were overlooking, alien mechanics were working on technology Avery did not recognize. Wires were everywhere and as the chief engineer she was, her skin crawled at how disorganized things looked. The only thing that looked organised were the things the wires were attached to. Which, in turn, were objects that surprised her quite a bit: ordinary paintings! Though why on Earth they were wired up to anything at all, Avery was unsure of.

The Zygons looked creepy with giant heads and no neck. Apparently, they had a love for the colour red as their skin was the same colour as their lightning.

"Commander…" a voice hissed from behind them, causing them all to turn around. Avery leaned back and away from the creature standing there, not being able to help how disgusted she felt about the strange way it looked. "Why are these creatures here?"

"Because I say they should be. It is time you too were translated," replied the Zygon-Queen simply. She turned and led them further to the right, the Zygon following them. "Observe this, I believe you will find it fascinating."

While they walked, Avery leaned over to her Doctor. Behind them, the future Doctor stared at the two with a strange look in his eyes.

"If they think this world is too primitive… Why are they here? I mean here here…" asked Avery.

"Don't know. I'd imagine they would have gone to your time. Or the 28th century. Nice century. Lots of improvements for the humanrace," smiled the Doctor before turning serious again as the Zygon-Queen stopped, rounding a small device placed on a pedestal.

The device looked like a transcendent cube. That was it. Nothing more, nothing less and Avery wondered what it would do.

The Zygon placed its enormous hands on the cube and suddenly it gave off a strange, whirring noise. Before Avery understood what was happening, the cube seemed to eat the Zygon, pulling it from where it was standing and into the cube. For a fraction of a second, she could see the Zygon in miniature format standing in the middle of the cube, though it soon disappeared and the cube returned to its transcendent state.

Instead, the Zygon-Queen walked back to the railing of the catwalk, looking down at the machinery there. Avery and the others did the same and there, in the middle of the painting, was the Zygon she had just seen disappear…

"That's him. That's the Zygon, in the picture, now," said Clara with wide eyes, glancing between the future Doctor and the painting.

"It's not a picture. It's a Stasis Cube," explained the past Doctor.

"Stasis… Like Cryo chambers?" asked Avery.

"Like Cryo, yes," answered her Doctor.

"It's Time Lord art. Frozen instants in time," explained the past Doctor. "Bigger on the inside but could be deployed as…"

"Suspended animation," finished the Doctor.

The future Doctor snapped his fingers, looking at the Doctor with a smile on his face, "I was going to say that! I knew that…"

Avery rolled her eyes.

Ignoring his future self, the Doctor continued to speak, "Oh, that's very good. The Zygons all pop inside the pictures, wait a few centuries till the planet's a bit more interesting, and then out they come."

"You see, Clara," began the future Doctor, leaning forwards on the railing. "They're stored in the paintings in the Under Gallery, indeed like cryo chambers… Although you might not know fully how those work…"

"I'm an English teacher, not a scientist."

Avery scoffed at the word scientist being connected with cryo chambers, only now realizing she too must be from the century Martha was from.

"It's like Cup-a-Soups. Except you add time – if you can picture that." Silence followed his explanation. "Nobody could picture that. Forget I said Cup-a-Soups-"

"And now the world is worth conquering," interrupted Clara, looking back at the Zygon-Queen. "So the Zygons are invading the future from the past."

"Exactly!" exclaimed the future Doctor as though he had made Clara realize what everything was about.

"And do you know why I know that you're a fake?" added the Doctor, causing everyone to glance at him with surprised eyes as he walked over to the Zygon-Queen. "Because you're such a bad copy. It's not just the smell, or the unconvincing hair, or the atrocious teeth, or the eyes just a bit too close together, or the breath that could stun a horse – it's because my Elizabeth – "

"'My Elizabeth?'" whispered Avery, her heart aching a bit at those words, although she was unsure of why.

"- the real Elizabeth, would never be stupid enough to reveal her own plan. Honestly, why would you do that?"

"Because it's not my plan, and I _am_ the real Elizabeth."

Another silence ensued in which everyone watched the Doctor blink a few times, trying his best to come up with an apology or something to say to the rather annoyed-looking _real_ queen in front of him.

"Okay… so… backtracking a moment, just to lend some context to my earlier remarks…" stammered the Doctor.

Avery walked forwards, "He says those things because he's thick. Don't pay any notice to him. How did you come here and make them listen to you, believe you, your highness?"

Albeit she still looked annoyed, she also looked happy about being called 'your highness' again by someone human, and so she began to explain, making sure to only look at Avery and no one else, "My twin is dead in the forest. I am accustomed to taking precautions." With that said, the queen lifted her skirt and removed a jewel clad dagger from underneath of there. "These Zygon creatures never even considered that it was me who survived, rather than their own commander. The arrogance that typifies their kind."

"Their kind? Zygons?" asked Clara.

"Men!" exclaimed the queen, glaring at the Doctor which only made Avery chuckle.

"Are you not afraid?" asked Avery.

"Afraid? My dear if this is the worst thing you've seen in your life, then you surely have never been to London during an epidemic of some form of disease."

Avery took a step away from the queen.

"But you killed one of those on your own?" asked Clara in wonder.

"I may have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but at the time, so did the Zygon," smiled the queen before she turned serious again, turning reluctantly to the Doctor, "The future of my kingdom is imperilled. Doctor, can I rely on your service?"

"Well, I'm going to need my Tardis."

"It has been procured already," smiled the queen.

"Ah! Perfect," smiled the Doctor back.

"But first, my love, you have a promise to keep."

Avery glanced back at the Doctor, though he avoided eye-contact with her.

"Prepare for the wedding. Be ready in one hour, my love."

With that said, the queen turned and walked away again, glancing back at him once only to give him a seducing smile. Avery turned and stared at her Doctor, and she did not miss the way Clara and the future Doctor silently chuckled at the scene before them.

"A wedding?"

"Yup." The Doctor nervously scratched himself at the back of his head, still avoiding eye contact with her.

"Right now?"

"Yup."

"In the middle of a crisis involving the future of this planet?"

"Yup…"

"So, is this what you do when we go to sleep? Go around and seduce women and marry them?"

"Yu- No! Not at all!" exclaimed the Doctor, finally making eye-contact with her again. "It just… sorta happens sometimes."

The future Doctor laughed out loud now before he walked forwards and placed an arm around Avery's shoulders, "Let's leave him to get prepared for the wedding! Big day!"

Avery sighed and let the future Doctor and Clara lead her away from her Doctor.

Truly, this was going to be… interesting…


	28. Chapter 5, A Wedding

**Aye! I'm back! (I hope)**

 **Big thank you to everyone who followed and favorited!**

* * *

 **Day of the Doctor**

* * *

 **~Chapter 5~  
A Wedding Riddled with Jealousy**

"Never? Not even once?"

"No. He's only ever mentioned you. And that was… under different circumstances."

Avery and Clara were sat on the soft grass of a field, leaning against a stone fence. On the other side of the field, the wedding would be held. Avery was unsure of what she felt about the wedding, though was trying not to think about it. Her heart said she was furious, though she was unsure of why. He was a free man and allowed to do what he wanted after all.

There was also something very… Deja-vu about the whole ordeal. Though she had no memories of the Doctor wanting to marry someone else. And she was sure that her memory was intact.

"What different circumstances?" asked Avery, quite curious about the future Doctor, who was off somewhere with the past Doctor, maybe inspecting more of the Zygon base.

"Just… intense circumstances. He was sort of forced to remember you when this group of aliens ambushed us once. They said they were searching for someone special, called her the-"

"Clara!"

Both girls shrieked and jumped as the future Doctor's voice was suddenly heard coming from right above them. As they looked up, he was sitting there on the stone fence, looking down at them with joyful eyes. Though something in his eyes told her that the joy was not really there, but more made-up. The past Doctor's words came to her mind of how they were afraid of being grown-up, as though it reminded them of something horrible…

"What are you two girls chatting about, aye?"

He shifted and let himself plop down between the two of them. The past Doctor moved into view as well, sitting himself down on the grass a little bit away from them.

"You. We were talking about how weird you are."

"Oi! Weird is good," scolded the future Doctor, pointing a finger at each of them.

"Hey, does he still do that thing where he comes up with words just to sound clever, but then you actually know something about the subject and catch him doing it and you can just see him squirming-"

"Yes! Yes, he does!" laughed Clara.

"This isn't funny," squirmed the future Doctor.

The laughter died down after a while, and Avery looked over at the future Doctor, a serious look on her face, "Why have you never mentioned Martha to Clara?"

He looked down at his own hands.

"Not even Rose… I understand it's painful, but… We're still your friends."

"I don't mention you, because it's… weird."

"You just said 'weird' is good," countered Clara.

"Not the good weird. The bad weird. It's the bad weird for you. I mean you come into my life, become the best friends I've ever had, and then I have to leave… Leave because I don't grow old."

Avery gently placed a hand on his arm. A strange surge of energy passed through her as she did and she stared at her hand.

"Okay."

The future Doctor furrowed his brow, looking at her strangely. "Okay?"

"Okay as in, I understand." She finally looked up at him, realizing how close she was pressed up against him as they sat there… Her cheeks flushed, though she did not care. There was something about this Doctor, his carelessness, his joy, his clumsiness and his strange way of always finding reasons to touch her… It made her heart flutter.

Perhaps Martha had been right… Perhaps the Doctor does harbour feelings for her, the question was whether she did as well.

"The wedding's about to begin," commented the past Doctor, causing them to look over at him. "We should make our way over there."

"Yes… Yes!" replied the future Doctor as though he was waking up from a dream. Without any difficulty, the future Doctor jumped up to his feet, dragging both girls with him before intertwining his arms with theirs, beginning to lead them down over the field.

Avery giggled at his antics, watching as he puffed out his chest slightly as he walked with two women at his arms. Though her smile faded slightly when she noticed the past Doctor walking on his own in front of them.

"Ignore him…" mumbled the future Doctor, having noticed her staring.

"How can I do that when he's walking all on his own? He's still my friend… He's just not met me yet," argued Avery.

"No, really just ignore him. It's easy, I do it all the time," shrugged the future Doctor.

Avery wanted to ask him more questions, but as she looked at the future Doctor she could see he was still in a happy mood, and the past times the past Doctor had come up in conversation, both her Doctor and the future Doctor had become uncomfortable and unhappy. She did not want that for her friend.

Therefore, she simply let it go, leaning her head against his shoulder as she listened to him and Clara chatting away about random things.

They reached the other side of the field soon where her Doctor, Elizabeth and a priest were already standing beside the TARDIS, awaiting their arrival. Avery chuckled as she saw her Doctor standing there with the same suit he always wore, having changed nothing about his attire while the Queen had put on a fancier dress. She chuckled even more at the strange thought that the Doctor was getting married; the man who always ran from normal things and towards the strange, adventurous things. Then again, marriage is nothing more but an adventure. One having to spend every day with someone and make it work while still keeping up the romance… a bigger adventure did not exist in the entire university.

They listened to the ceremony, watching the minister recite parts of the Bible and other texts Avery did not recognize at all. All the while, she kept a close eye on her Doctor, seeing him never really smiling but looking more uncomfortable with each passing minute. She began to assume he had only agreed to the wedding part to find out more about the Zygons and Elizabeth, and their connection. Perhaps he had thought he would be able to run away before the wedding…

This thought only made Avery smile even more, silently laughing at the situation he had gotten himself in to.

"You may kiss the bride," finished the minister, earning a whoop from Clara who had long ago let go of the future Doctor's arm to stand on her own… Yet, Avery had not. Neither of them had even made a move to leave. She simply felt natural standing beside the Doctor, the two holding on to each other…

She watched with a smirk on her lips as the Doctor awkwardly glanced at Elizabeth before she suddenly grabbed his face and threw herself against him… For a very long time.

Clara had been smiling at first… Though as the kiss went on and on and on, her smile had turned into an uncomfortable one. Avery's smirk had disappeared too, her heart beating with jealousy now, although she tried to deny it.

"Is there a lot of this in the future?" asked the past Doctor, glancing at the future Doctor.

Avery's smirk returned again at the word 'it' used for kissing.

"It does start to happen, yeah," commented the future Doctor seriously.

The Doctor managed to pry away her hands, as delicately as he could. She smiled up at him, "Godspeed, my love."

Avery blinked, not understanding this part at all. Suddenly, her Doctor turned to Avery, grabbing her hand before giving a forced smile to his future self, "If I may borrow _my_ companion, thank you."

Dragging her behind him, the two of them entered the TARDIS again. The Doctor let out a sigh, beginning to start the engines once more. The TARDIS doors opened again, revealing Clara, the future Doctor and the past Doctor entering.

"We're all going back to the 21st century now?" asked Avery, wondering why her Doctor had pried her away from his future self if they all were going to go in the same ship anyway.

"Yup," said the Doctor as he ran around the controllers, avoiding eye contact with Avery.

"You've let this place go a bit," commented the past Doctor, Avery staying in the back, leaning against the railing.

"Ah, it's the grunge phase," commented the future Doctor before glancing at his past self, "He grows out of it."

As the future Doctor touched the controls, a flash of electricity touched them, causing them both to jump back from the controls. Both Avery and Clara grabbed onto each other as they saw the room change into one lighter.

"The desktop is glitching!" exclaimed the Doctor.

"Sorry, 'desktop'?" asked Avery, though the Doctors ignored her.

"Three of us from different time zones. It's trying to compensate," explained the past Doctor.

"Is it just me or did that not explain anything at all?" asked Clara in a low voice, earning a nod from Avery.

The future Doctor pointed over at the walls where the bright light was coming from, "Hey, look, the round things."

"I love the round things," smiled the Doctor.

"What are the round things?" asked the future Doctor.

"No idea…" replied the Doctor, still with a smile on his face.

"This always makes me trust him even more as my driver," commented Clara, earning a giggle from Avery.

Something beeped over at the controls and the future Doctor rushed past Clara and Avery, pulling a lever. "Oh dear, the friction contrafibulator." Another flash made the room change once more, making it look rather modern and stylish, though the 'round things' were gone. "There, stabilized."

"Oh, you've redecorated," smiled the Doctor as he looked around. Though his smile quickly faded, "I don't like it."

"Oh? Oh, yeah. Oh, you never do! Listen, we're going to the National Gallery – the Zygons are underneath it," said the future Doctor, rushing around the controls.

"No, UNIT HQ, they followed us there in the Black Archive," said Clara, the two women letting go of each other again. The three Doctors turn to stare at her with ominous looks on their faces. "Okay, so you've heard of that, then."

"So, we go back there," mumbled the future Doctor, hitting a few buttons.

"What are you doing?" asked the Doctor, watching him with interested eyes.

"I've got contacts. Sometimes I give gifts to my contacts," smiled the future Doctor.

"Again, how does that explain anything?" asked Avery.

They watched as the future Doctor moved the TV-screen around the controls so it was facing all three of them.

"Oh, great, they've got a bomb. Nuclear no less," grumbled the future Doctor.

"There's always a bomb, isn't there? Avery, remember that time in New Rome when the cult leaders turned out to have-"

"Bombs stacked underneath the new Vatican structures, yeah," chuckled Avery.

"There's always a bomb…"

"Let's interrupt, shall we?" asked the future Doctor, hitting the screen three times before smiling. "Science leads, Kate? Is that what you meant? Is that what your father meant?"

Clara and Avery walked over to the Doctors, seeing the screen filled with strange symbols and numbers.

 _"Doctor?"_ asked the voice of a woman over the com system.

"Space-time telegraph, Kate. A gift from me to your father. Hotline straight to the TARDIS." The future Doctor turned serious. "I know about the Black Archive and I know about the security protocol. Kate, please, please, tell me you are not about to do something unbelievably stupid!"

 _"I'm sorry, Doctor. Switch it off."_

"Not as sorry as you will be. This is not a decision you will ever be able to live with. If that bomb goes off, a lot of people die," commented the Doctor.

Avery and Clara did not miss how the future Doctor and Avery's Doctor stopped for a moment to stare at each other after he had said that, as though they had both thought of something horrible at the same time…

Suddenly, the TARDIS shook. The future Doctor ran around the controls again, checking everything twice.

"Kate! We're attempting to bring the TARDIS in – why can't we land?"

 _"I said switch it off!"_

"No, Kate, please! Just listen to me!" exclaimed the future Doctor, though suddenly, a beep was heard.

"The symbols are gone. I think the line was cut," said Avery, exchanging a look with the future Doctor.

"The Tower of London – totally TARDIS-proof…" said the future Doctor.

"How can they do that?" asked Clara incredulously.

"Alien technology plus human stupidity – trust me, it's unbeatable."

"But we have to land," pressed Avery. "What if she didn't turn the bomb off? And the Zygons, we have to get to them!"

"We don't need to land…" breathed the future Doctor.

"Yeah we do a tiny bit," said the Doctor with a singsong voice. "Try and keep up."

"No, we don't. There is another way," smiled the future Doctor.

Suddenly, he held up the Zygons' cube.

"Cup-a-Soup!"

The Doctor smiled.

"What _is_ a Cup-a-Soup?" asked the past Doctor, earning a smile from Avery.


	29. Chapter 6, the Child

**WARNING: I didn't read this through before posting... Sorry about all the mistakes :P**

 **Also, a b** **ig thank you to everyone who followed and favorited!**

 **And a special thanks to _That's Balderdash_ who reviewed!**

* * *

 **Day of the Doctor**

* * *

 **~Chapter 6~  
The Child  
**

"I don't understand…" whispered Avery as she and Clara followed the three eager Doctors out of the Tardis.

"The Doctor and I were asked to take a look at something. The glass of the paintings had been broken from the inside. Apparently, those had been the very paintings that the Zygons just used to get to the future with."

"Oh! And we're going to do what they do," finished Avery, earning a smile from Clara.

"Yes. Although that won't…" breathed Clara before jogging up towards the Doctor, the five of them now walking over the field towards the castle. "Doctor, that won't get us to where we need to go. The Black Archive is nowhere near the paintings-"

"I need your phone," said the future Doctor, not indicating he had been listening to her at all.

With a sigh, Clara gave him his phone, watching as he dialled a number before speeding up, talking privately to the person in question. Clara slowed down slightly to one more walk beside Avery.

"Does your Doctor do that too?"

"Not explain what the hell he's doing to save the world? Yes. He does that _a lot_."

The five entered the castle without a problem, the guards recognizing them. Now almost jogging, the five zigzagged through the castle's corridors, dodging poor, confused servants and guards as they did. Finally, they reached the chamber where the Zygons had been hauled up. By now, it was empty of any aliens, apart from the Doctors, only the paintings remaining.

"This one."

The future Doctor stopped in front of one particular painting, and the other two Doctors came to a halt behind him, staring up at the painting with dark eyes. Avery and Clara glanced at it.

"That's the Gallifrey Falls painting… But that was-"

"It's been moved to the Black Archive. I made sure of it," said the future Doctor, tossing back Clara's phone to her.

"Once more we return…" said the Doctor quietly. Avery walked over to him, grabbing his hand. All she really knew about his home world, Gallifrey, was that it was no more. She did not know how it was destroyed, though she figured the Daleks had done it. Then again… Their home world was no more either. Perhaps, somehow, the two had fired at the same time and caused the destruction of both worlds?

She doubted that though. No, there was more to it than she knew. And whatever it was troubled her Doctor – all three Doctors – terribly.

The Doctor glanced down at her as he felt her hand intertwine their fingers. Her heart raced at being so close to him, holding his hand _and_ looking him in the eyes. Her hand warmed up, buzzing with an energy she was unsure of what it was… Perhaps it _was_ love. Or attraction. Either way, Avery did not fear it.

"Very well…" said the past Doctor, looking at the painting while holding the cube up in front of him. "Let's do this."

Avery did not feel anything of the process. Instead, it was more like she had blinked and then suddenly found herself in a different place. Though the moment she had suddenly appeared in the new place, she wished she had not.

It was complete chaos where they had appeared. They were on Gallifrey, though it was nothing like the stories the Doctor had once told her and Martha. There was no red grass and beautiful scenery. Just chaos and destruction. An alarm was blaring, explosions were going off everywhere. Daleks were fighting strangely dressed men and women, whom Avery soon understood were Time Lords. Parents with their children were running away, looking as though they were unsure of where it was safe…

Soon, that place, that planet, was going to exist no more. And the pain Avery felt along with the fear was what made her gasp and step away from the Doctor, letting go of his hand. Clara looked equally as shocked, though the three Doctors did not react. Instead, they began to walk, their faces void of emotions and their eyes dark…

Clara followed, a shocked look on her face, and Avery was going to as well… But then something caught her eye.

 _Time Lady… Explosions… Fire… So much death…_

The voice came from right next to her, and she turned her head just in time to see two parents, both female, running with a child in their arms. The child was crying, but seized its crying when she looked at Avery. The face of the child seemed so familiar, like a face of a long lost friend… But Avery did not know her.

The child stretched out a hand towards Avery.

 _Please… Help me…_

Avery, as though hypnotized by the child, stretched out her hand as well and began to walk towards the child. The parents were currently doing their best to open a door, explosions going off nearby them that caused them to panic more and more.

 _They're going to die._

A hand suddenly yanked her arm down and twirled her around. She came face to face with the future Doctor. A scream went off in her head and she cringed letting out a groan. The voice was clearly upset that she had not reached that child, and it projected its feelings right onto Avery, causing her to fight against the future Doctor's grip, wanting to reach that child. She fell to her knees, still struggling.

"Never ever walk towards that child. Don't listen to its voice."

She froze and stopped struggling. Avery stared at the future Doctor, suddenly fearing him. The way he seemed angry with her yet at the same time also fearful was… haunting. His strong grip on her arms surprised her… He knew something.

"Who is she?"

"Don't go with her. Not-Not yet. Please."

The anger seemed to go away from his eyes, and he suddenly embraced her, standing them both back up on their feet. She stayed limp in his arms, too shocked and confused to return the hug. Close by, the others were watching them, confused… At least, they all looked confused, apart from Clara.

The future Doctor suddenly let her go, taking a step away from her. When Avery turned back around towards the child and her parents, they had already managed to open the door and disappeared inside. The nagging feeling of wanting to help or approach the child was gone. A hand touched hers and she looked up to find her Doctor holding it, looking at her with worried eyes.

"Let's leave this place."

Avery nodded, still unsure of what had just happened. She watched her Doctor glare over at the future Doctor before leading Avery away from him.

The five resumed their walk, none of them talking about what had just happened.

A Dalek made its way over to them, shouting its signature 'exterminate' phrase and pointing its laser towards them. Avery gasped, though the three Doctors had a plan of their own. Pointing their screwdrivers at the Dalek, a light suddenly appeared from their screwdrivers which pushed the Dalek backwards, causing it to miss its shots. Exploding from the light, the Dalek suddenly crashed through something bright that had not been there before, and without realizing it, Avery and the others suddenly stepped out of the painting.

Letting go of Avery's hand, the Doctor and the two others walked synchronized out of the painting and into what looked a storage. Though Avery knew better, realizing it was the Black Archive. Clara and Avery watched as they stopped before a table filled with files, two blonde women standing on either side of the table with two scientists standing behind each of them. It was like watching a mirrored room, because the two blondes looked exactly the same as did the two scientists behind them.

The Dalek lay in the room, dead and still smoking slightly, and Clara and Avery made their way over to it to stand slightly in the back, watching the scene unfold before them. Clara noticed Avery was still shaken up from what had happened inside that painting, and she grabbed her hand shortly, giving it a squeeze. Avery nodded her head at the woman, smiling forcefully.

"Hello," said the past Doctor to the mirrored six people standing around the table.

"I'm the Doctor," said Avery's Doctor.

"Sorry about the Dalek," continued the future Doctor, the three of them still standing beside one another, staring at the six people, three of which were obviously Zygons.

"Also the showing off," mumbled Clara, to which Avery smiled a genuine smile.

Now came the time the Doctors would need to save them all from a nuclear bomb going off… while at the same time also getting rid of the Zygons… How they were going to do that, Avery was unsure of.


	30. Chapter 7, A Second Chance Part 1

**We're nearing the end of this part! After this I'm going to start on a small adventure I've come up with. It'll be the last one with Martha and, I think, the second last part of this entire story. I don't think I'm gonna add Donna though.** **She's my favourite... but I don't think she fits the story very well. We'll see what happens** **:)**

 **As usual, a b** **ig thank you to everyone who followed and favorited!**

 **And a special thanks to _That's Balderdash_ who reviewed with such kind words! :D**

* * *

 **Day of the Doctor**

* * *

 **~Chapter 7~  
A Second Chance Part 1  
**

Avery was sure of the fact that all three doctors were equally as confused as she was about who was the real deal and who was a Zygon. Not only that, but she had never met those people before and knew nothing of them. All she did know was the fact that an alarm was blaring in the seemingly filled up storage room, and a red light was flashing. Clara and Avery looked over to the left to see a countdown there, its red numbers seeming to taunt them. If they could not stop the countdown before all four numbers were on zero, they along with a lot of other people, would die.

The future Doctor walked over to one of the blonde, identical ladies, "Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, what in the name of sanity are you doing?"

"The countdown can only be halted at my personal command," said the other blonde woman, causing the future Doctor to turn to her instead, realizing he had been talking to the Zygon copy. "There's nothing you can do."

"Except make you both agree to halt it," deduced Avery's Doctor.

Avery realized the predicament they were in. With two copies of the same Kate standing in the room with the exact same voice print, they could both stop and resume the countdown until forever. Indeed, the future Doctor was on to something. If they could make them both agree on stopping the countdown, their problem would be solved.

"Not even for three of you," said Kate, shaking her head.

"You're about to murder millions of people," announced the past Doctor.

"To save billions," shot Kate back. "How many times have you made that calculation?"

"Once. Turned me into the man I am now. I'm not even sure who that is any more," replied the future Doctor.

Avery and Clara exchanged a look. This was a different side to the Doctor. Sure, they both knew that he was a bit broken, but they had assumed his quirkiness and his constant running were because he was an alien. Now, they realized it wasn't.

"You tell yourself it's justified, but it's a lie. Because what I did that day was wrong. Just wrong," said the Doctor, walking over to the table separating the Zygon clones and the real people. He bent over, leaning against the table as a faraway look appeared on his face. Avery had to fight the impulse to walk over to him and hug him. Just hug him.

The past Doctor seemed rather affected by the Doctor's words. He looked away from him, turning his face to Avery and Clara. They stared back at him, offering him a smile he did not mirror. Instead, he simply looked back again to the Doctor and the future Doctor.

"And because I got it wrong," said the future Doctor, placing himself next to the Doctor who straightened back up again, "I'm going to make you get it right."

Synchronized and actually causing both Clara and Avery to smirk, the two Doctors pulled up a chair each and sat down, both propping their legs up on the table in a casual manner as though the countdown was not still taunting them, as though the alarm was not still blaring, as though they were not all going to die.

"How?" asked Kate.

"Any second now, you're going to stop that countdown," said the Doctor as though he had seen the future. "Both of you, together."

"And then you're going to negotiate the most perfect treaty of all time," added the future Doctor.

"Safeguards all round. Completely fair on both sides," added the Doctor.

"And the key to perfect negotiation-" started the future Doctor.

"-is not knowing what side you're on," finished the Doctor.

Clara looked over to find the past Doctor smiling at his future selves.

"Doctor…" breathed Avery under her breath, staring at the countdown. The minute was over, seconds now being counted down.

Both Kates turned to look at each other, placing their hands on their hips. The countdown seemed to finally get to them as well, taunting them, panicking them.

"Therefore," said the future Doctor, both suddenly standing up in unison and grabbing their sonic screwdrivers, "for the next few moments, until we decide to let you out-"

"-no one in this room will be able to remember if they're human or Zygon," finished the Doctor.

Avery raised her eyebrows as both Doctors suddenly jumped up on the table, both exclaiming 'whoops-a-daisy' while doing so, before pointing their screwdrivers up to the ceiling. For a second Avery could only stare at the Doctors. Her mind seemed scrambled, boggled… like she could not remember what she was.

 _Time Lady…_

"Time Lady?" she asked, causing Clara to look over at her with a furrowed brow.

The seconds were now down at nine… eight… seven…

Both Kates looked at each other, seeming equally as confused as Avery, before suddenly realizing they were about to die and bring down millions of people with them. Both turned to the countdown:

"Cancel the detonation!"

The Doctors turned their screwdrivers off, smirking.

"Peace in our time," said the future Doctor, looking down at the Kates. Avery's Doctor looked over at her and winked, though Avery was still too confused to reply.

* * *

Both the Doctor and the future Doctor stayed put during the negotiations. Clara moved away, beginning to look around at the different objects that could be found in the Black Archive. The past Doctor moved over to a sofa and sat down, his eyes riddled with emotions; worry… Avery wondered if he needed to talk to someone and walked over to him, awkwardly standing in front of him.

"Hey…" she greeted, earning a forced smile from the past Doctor. "You look like you need a friend."

"Maybe I do. But I'm afraid most friends I had are going to be gone soon…"

"You mean because of the Time War?" asked Avery.

He nodded, "There's nothing you can do. What I need to do now is make a decision. And I'm afraid you can't help me with that."

"You're so… different from them."

He nodded again, smirking, "Younger."

She giggled before shaking her head, "That too. But you're also just… calmer. You don't seem to be running as much as they are."

He looked up at her then, his eyes filled with an emotion she could not quite pinpoint. But then he looked away from her again, not replying to what she had said. She noticed Clara looking at them and she moved away from the past Doctor to talk to her.

"He's… making a decision. I think he's hurting."

Clara stared at the past Doctor, "Should I try?"

Avery shrugged, "I feel like, no matter what Doctor you talk to, he's always going to be difficult to reach."

She nodded her head at Avery, though stayed put. Instead, she placed a hand on Avery's arm, "Are you okay?"

"Me?"

"I heard you earlier. When you were made to forget what you were… You said something."

Avery's cheeks flushed and she shook her head, "Just – Just something silly. It's nothing, really."

"So it's got nothing to do with what happened in the painting? On Gallifrey?"

"You tell me," she snapped before sighing, "I'm sorry. It's just – everyone seems to know more about me than I do."

Clara stayed silent, simply giving her a sympathetic look before she headed over to the past Doctor. Avery was left alone next to a couple of shelves. A shoe was standing on one of them along with a piece of what seemed to be Dalek technology.

She began wandering around the shelves. Thinking about everything that had happened. She was unsure of herself, unsure of what the voice was and why the Doctor had seemed so intent on keeping her away from the Gallifreyan child… and she was unsure of what the others knew of the Time War that she did not yet. Yes, the Doctor had told her about the Time War, but not in very much detail. Not to her at least. Perhaps he had told Martha…

Someone cleared their throat behind her and she realized she had been staring at an old Cyborg helmet. She turned to find her Doctor standing there, his hands in his pockets.

"You alright?"

"Yeah," she replied, a little too fast for her own liking, which the Doctor caught onto quickly. "Yeah… Just a lot that has happened."

"Tell me about it," he sighed, moving over to stand next to her. "I think this is from the day the cyborg invaded our universe. The day that…"

"That Rose left," finished Avery with a soft voice, glancing over at her Doctor who stayed put staring at the helmet.

He did what he always did when things got too real for him to handle, when things got too hurtful. He ran: this time simply by changing the subject, "The negotiations went well. They're still finishing up on some details, but, otherwise, they're all done. We can go home now. End this adventure."

Avery smiled, her smile growing even bigger when the Doctor removed one hand from his pocket and reached out to her. Quickly, she grabbed it, leaning against his arm, "I'd like that."

"Besides, Martha must be waking up by now. She'll want to know what just happened!" he added, turning them both around as they started walking back to the others.

"Oh gosh," giggled Avery. "She's missed _a lot_." The Doctor laughed with her, though they both quieted down when they saw Clara looking around with a distressed look on her face.

"He's going to do it!"

"What? Who?"

"The Doctor, the other Doctor, the younger Doctor," she rambled, her eyes wide as the future Doctor joined them, looking at Clara worriedly. "He was talking about a moment - that the moment had come, and then he vanished. He's going to do it! He's going to wipe out the Time Lords…"

Avery looked up at her Doctor, alarmed. Was this what the Doctor had been hiding from her? The fact that _he_ did it; ended the Time War, killing all Time Lords and (mostly) all Daleks?

"We've got a chance…"

"We can't change history."

"It's still his choice," snapped the future Doctor. "But… We can still…"

Avery looked up at her Doctor, nodding her head as she saw him look at her for advice.

"Alright. Let's go then," said the Doctor, Clara and the future Doctor quickly moving away. Avery watched her Doctor stay put, looking at her with a hint of happiness and relief in his eyes, "A second chance to do the right thing."

"A second chance," she repeated with a smile, squeezing his hand.


	31. Chapter 8, A Second Chance Part 2

**I'm not gonna say anything 'cause I'll just spoil stuff :p so, enjoy!**

 **As usual, a b** **ig thank you to everyone who followed and favorited!**

 **And a special thanks to _That's Balderdash_ who reviewed again! :D**

* * *

 **Day of the Doctor**

* * *

 **~Chapter 8~  
A Second Chance Part 2  
**

Returning to the Tardis was a bit tricky. Though via the future Doctor's Tardis which was parked not too far away from the Black Archive, they managed to get back to their own Tardis in no time. While inside, the Doctor immediately began to run around the controls with a sort of energy Avery had never really seen before. His face was completely serious as he focused only on getting them to the one point in his life where he, first of all, was not allowed to go to and the one point in his life Avery knew he regretted a lot. She was not a hundred percent sure yet what it was he did, but whatever it was managed to kill off all the Time Lords and (almost) all Daleks. _He_ had to do that for the greater good, but seeing as Kate and the Zygons had just proven that mass destruction does not always have to be the answer to everything, Avery knew her Doctor was keen on trying to change what had happened.

Though how that would work was also something Avery was not too sure about. The Doctor would still remember how he did it and all the pain that came after, right? But would he then have a second memory of himself saving the world and the pain never existing? And if he was not in pain… would he have met Rose? Would he have met Martha? Would he have met her?

"You're worrying about something."

Avery blinked a few times as she took herself out of her own train of thoughts and back to reality. The Doctor was still running around, though had obviously calmed down a bit. He kept glancing her way, though his face showed no emotions.

"I was just wondering what will happen if you… if you do change the past. Will I have ever met you?"

The Doctor sighed before looking over at her, "I can't erase myself from history. That's not how it works."

"But will I have met you?"

"I don't know…"

"Because I don't want to lose you…"

The Doctor continued to run around the controls and suddenly, they landed. Avery's heart fell to her stomach and the Doctor picked up on it, walking straight over to her. He placed his hands on her shoulders, looking her deep in the eyes.

There it was again, that feeling of a strange electric buzz rushing through her from where his hands touched her. That strange, joyful and loving feeling… She really did not want to miss out on that. She _really_ didn't want to leave him.

"If you want, I'll leave. I'll take us out of here and pretend it never happened. Let them deal with it all."

"But they might still change the past…"

The Doctor simply stayed quiet, looking down at her for a long time until he softly spoke three words that made Avery's heart almost burst with complete and utter joy, "I don't want to lose you either."

She quickly placed her arms around him, hugging him tightly. Albeit he was a bit hesitant, the Doctor returned the hug eventually. With her ear pressed up against his chest, she could hear both of his hearts beating in a steady rhythm.

"But this is bigger than you and me…" she whispered, ending the hug before looking up at the Doctor with wide eyes. "This is about an entire species, an entire civilisation."

"Maybe…" breathed the Doctor. "But, there's also the Daleks." His eyes turned dark at the mention of them. "And I can't let them win this war."

"Doctor?"

He turned around and walked out of the door, leaving it a crack open for her to follow if she wanted to. She had been completely convinced he wanted to change the past, in fact she could even see it in his eyes that he wanted to, but now… now she was not so sure anymore. Then again, maybe he was not either. Perhaps he thought that if he changed the past and saved the Time Lords, the Daleks would survive, and they were a race capable of a lot of Evil if they were kept intact. Perhaps the loss he had gone through was worth it in the end…

Then again, who knew what the Doctor actually did think.

She quietly slipped through the door, seeing Clara doing the same but from the future Doctor's Tardis. In her eyes, Avery could see the hope, the joy… She was hoping the Doctor would fix this so he would not be in pain anymore… But Avery was not so sure about that anymore. Messing with time could never end well.

The past Doctor was standing in front of what appeared to be a box laced with gold. On the top, a red jewel existed and Avery could not help but think of as a big, red button… perhaps it indeed was **the** big, red button. The one the Doctor would soon, maybe, press and then everything that once was his home would be gone in an instance…

Avery couldn't even imagine having to go through something like that.

"I told you, he hasn't done it yet," whispered Clara with a hopeful tone to her voice.

"These events should be time locked, so something let us through," deduced the Doctor, earning a suspicious look from the future Doctor.

"Go back," announced the past Doctor, his back still turned towards them both.

Avery looked around at her surroundings, surprised to find them all standing in a… barn? Of course it didn't look like a human one, but it was still a barn. She sun shone brightly outside and there was a tremendous heat gushing down over them.

But the heat was not what was making Avery sweat. It was the fact that she truly did not know what the Doctor was going to do now. He seemed suspicious of the fact that he had gotten a second chance to do something right, but at the same time he seemed like he wanted to change it… Whatever outcome would happen, Avery wondered if anything would be the same ever again.

"Go back to your lives. Go and be the Doctor that I could never be," spoke the past Doctor, his voice sounding tremendously sad. "Make it worthwhile."

Avery saw the past Doctor moving his arm, placing his hand on the big, red button.

"All those years burying you in my memory…" began the Doctor.

"Pretending you didn't exist," continued the future Doctor. "Keeping you a secret even from myself."

"Pretending you weren't the Doctor," continued Avery's Doctor. "When you were the Doctor more than anybody else."

"You were the Doctor on the day it wasn't possible to get it right," spoke the future Doctor, his voice soft as he and the Doctor moved over to the golden jewelled box, the two of them also placing their hands on the big, red button. "But this time, you don't have to do it alone."

Avery placed a hand over her mouth, her heart still beating a thousand miles an hour. If they pressed the button together, nothing would really change. Though… the pain she knew he was in would never go away. And with the love she knew she harboured for him, she just couldn't possibly let him go through with that.

At least not alone.

Quickly, Avery made her way over to her Doctor. The three of them looked at her. The past Doctor simply watched her with curious eyes, while the future and her own Doctor watched her with anticipating eyes, as though they were waiting for… her approval?

"Indeed you won't have to do it alone," she whispered, placing a hand on her Doctor's cheek before moving it over to the big, red button. With a deep breath, she let her hand rest on the three Doctors' hands. "You won't have to be in pain on your own."

"Avery…" began her Doctor, though she shook her head.

"That's what friends are for."

"Thank you…" whispered the past Doctor.

A cricket was heard outside, and every eye was on the past Doctor. His hand was essentially the one on the button, everyone else's was simply on top of his. He would have to be the one to press it first. And also because this was _his_ decision still, no matter who was there to share the burden.

Though no button was pressed yet.

"What we do today is not out of fear," convinced the Doctor, seeming to be trying to persuade the past Doctor that waiting would not make it easier. And, perhaps, to persuade himself that he was doing the right thing after all. "It is done because there is no other way."

"And it is done in the name of the many lives we are failing to save…" added the future Doctor.

Another beat of silence passed. Avery was beginning to shake.

Suddenly, the future Doctor turned his head over to Clara who was still stood where she had exited the Tardis, staring at them on the verge of tears, "What? What is it, what?" He seemed aggravated.

"Nothing…" whispered Clara.

"No. It's something. Tell me!" exclaimed the future Doctor.

"You told me you wiped out your own people. I just… I never pictured you doing it, that's all," she said, a tear finally falling down her cheek.

Suddenly, the sunlight from outside faded, a darkness filling the barn. Avery tightened her hold over the Doctors' hands.

"What's happening?" asked Clara.

"Nothing, it's a projection," explained the past Doctor.

The barn disappeared, and suddenly they were standing on Gallifrey. The shock of it caused the four of them to let go of the button. They watched as people ran away from explosions, screaming and crying; they were taking cover from the war.

"These are the people you're going to burn?" asked Clara quietly, her eyes situated on a family cowering under a larger piece of debree in order to stay safe from the war.

"There isn't anything we can do," sighed the Doctor, shifting so he was standing next to Avery.

"He's right," explained the future Doctor, who in turn walked over to Clara. "There isn't another way, there never was. Either I destroy my own people or let the universe burn."

"Look at you… the three of you," pressed Clara, her eyes still showing the fact that she was hoping the Doctor was going to fix this, "The warrior. The hero. And you…"

"And what am I?" asked the future Doctor.

"Have you really forgotten?" she asked with a soft smile edging up on her lips.

"Yes. Maybe, yes."

"We've got enough warriors – any old idiot can be hero," she explained.

"Then what do I do?"

"What you've always done. Be a _doctor_! You told me the name you chose was a promise. What was the promise?" asked Clara.

Around them, the current attack seemed to have calmed down a bit. The family they had been watching before came out from their hiding. Other people appeared in the streets now too, and they were beginning to reunite with their friends and loved ones, hugging each other and smiling widely.

"Never cruel or cowardly," began the Doctor, causing Avery to look over at him.

This was something he had never told her.

"Never give up, never give in," added the past Doctor.

Avery followed her Doctor as he walked over to Clara. The future Doctor was grinning, watching his past selves with a look in his eyes Avery could not quite make out.

"You're not actually suggesting that we change our own personal history?" asked the Doctor.

"We change history all the time. I'm suggesting something far worse," grinned the future Doctor.

"What, exactly?" asked the past Doctor.

"Gentlemen, I have had 400 years to think about this," explained the future Doctor.

Their surroundings turned back to the barn, and everyone watched the future Doctor as he waltzed back to the big, red button. Avery felt utterly confused, just a moment ago the Doctors had all been planning on going through with what had happened.

"I've changed my mind."

The big, red button closed, disappearing so they could not press it.

"I-I don't understand, what's going on?" asked Avery quietly. "Are you going to save everyone?"

"We always do," smiled the future Doctor, beaming brightly at Avery to which Clara clapped her hands together, beaming equally as much as the future Doctor.

"There's still a billion, billion Daleks up there, attacking," said the past Doctor, addressing what Avery had been thinking as well.

"Yeah, there is, there is…"

"But there's something those billion, billion Daleks don't know," said the Doctor with a smile.

"'Cause if they did, they'd probably send for reinforcements," added the future Doctor.

"What?"

"This time, there's three of us," beamed the future Doctor.

All at once, the three Doctors suddenly smiled brightly.

"Oh, that is brilliant," smiled the past Doctor.

Although Avery was still confused, she could not help but smile at the way her Doctor jumped up in utter joy, smiling brightly at Avery. And in one explosion of happiness, the Doctor moved over and pressed a kiss to Avery's lips. Just a small, fleeting kiss, but enough to make Avery's entire body go through every single stage of shock, fright and joy at the same time.

She was stunned, standing there, frozen. Though her Doctor didn't seem bothered by it. Instead, he waltzed past her afterwards, joining the other Doctors as they made up the plan.

Clara just giggled at the expression on Avery's face, "Well that just happened."

"What just happened?" she breathed quietly.

Clara giggled again before walking past her towards the Doctors, "So, what's the plan?"


	32. Chapter 9, Gallifrey Stands

**As usual, a b** **ig thank you to everyone who followed and favorited!**

* * *

 **Day of the Doctor**

* * *

 **~Chapter 9~  
Gallifrey Stands  
**

"But how are you going to send a message back to your past selves?" she asked, watching her Doctor run around the controls.

The Doctor paused slightly before smirking, "Oh, that's easier than you think."

Avery let out a sigh, rolling her eyes at his vague answer.

"Here, hold this button," exclaimed the Doctor, pointing to a small, red button by the controls. Avery quickly walked over to it, pressing her finger against it while continuing to watch the Doctor.

"And you're sure the Daleks are going to be hit by their own crossfire… you know, this makes more sense," she suddenly said, causing the Doctor to pause once more, looking at her. "How would the Daleks have survived such a powerful weapon otherwise? I mean, you destroyed them all, sorta, but this way, the Daleks have a chance to survive which makes more sense with how they're still alive today."

"I suppose," said the Doctor grimly. "Although I don't like it. But, still, good thinking."

"It also means," smiled Avery widely. "That when this is all over, you're not going to remember saving Gallifrey, but you're going to remember it the wrong way. Which means we still are friends!"

The Doctor smiled widely, "Oh, I doubt we wouldn't have met. Avery Parsons, such a wonderfully brilliant girl – only a fool would miss her!"

Avery giggled at his words, not being able to help the blush. The Doctor quickly continued running around the controls, and each time he ran past her, her heartbeat quickened. She could not help but constantly think of that kiss. The electric currents running through her on normal touches had been nothing compared to that kiss. It had completely knocked her off her shoes…

But…

Her theory would mean he was not going to remember this. Meaning she wouldn't either… meaning they would not remember that kiss…

Her smile faltered slightly at that thought.

"Okay, are you ready?" he asked her, causing her to look over at him. He stood on the other side of the console, staring intently at her. She nodded her head. "Let go of the button."

She did as she was told, and immediately the screen before her read "Gallifrey Stands."

She couldn't help but smile at that sentence, knowing how happy it was making the Doctor.

The Doctor smiled widely, running over to stand next to her, staring over at the screen. Soon it showed them a room with a large table, several people standing around it clad in strange, red garments.

"Time Lords?" she asked in a whisper to the Doctor, who nodded.

 _"Hello, hello, Gallifrey High Command, this is the Doctor speaking,"_ spoke the voice of the future Doctor. Avery saw the people in the room look over to something else but them.

"Hello! Also the Doctor. Can you hear me?" said the Doctor from next to Avery.

 _"Also the Doctor - standing ready."_

 _"Dear God, three of them! All my worst nightmares at once!"_ exclaimed one of the men standing in the room, causing Avery to giggle slightly as the Doctor pouted briefly at the comment.

"General, we have a plan," said the Doctor, quickly flipping a switch to his right.

 _"We should point out, at this moment, it is a fairly terrible plan,"_ the future Doctor added.

"And it almost certainly won't work."

 _"I was happy with 'fairly terrible'."_

"Sorry, just thinking out loud," apologized the Doctor, though he didn't sound very apologetic.

 _"We're flying our three Tardis' into your lower atmosphere."_

"We're positioned at equidistant intervals round the globe," said the Doctor, flipping another couple of switches before grinning over at Avery, "'Equidistant' - so grown-up!"

Avery giggled again.

 _"We're just about ready to do it,"_ spoke the past Doctor.

 _"Ready to do what?"_ the general on the screen asked with wide eyes.

 _"We're going to freeze Gallifrey."_

 _"I'm sorry, what?"_ At this point, the general looked completely astonished by their words, though astonished in a very negative way.

"Using our Tardis', we're going to freeze Gallifrey in a single moment in time," explained the Doctor.

 _"You know, like those Stasis Cubes? A single moment in time held in a parallel pocket universe,"_ explained the past Doctor.

His explanation was also the reason for why neither of them were going to remember this happening. Gallifrey would be gone, and it was difficult to maintain a memory of something that exists in a pocket universe.

But she did know that what was put in a pocket universe, could be found again. At least, that was what she had been taught in school. Who knew what the truth was.

 _"Except we're going to do it to a whole planet,"_ continued the future Doctor.

"And all the people on it."

 _"_ What? _Even if that were possible, which it isn't, why would you do such a thing?"_ asked the general, glancing at Avery and the Doctor before glancing over at the others.

 _"Because the alternative is burning,"_ explained the future Doctor.

"And I've seen that."

 _"And I never want to see it again,"_ finished the future Doctor.

 _"We'd be lost in another universe... frozen in a single moment. We'd have nothing,"_ said the general, his voice quiet.

 _"You would have hope. And right now, that is exactly what you don't have."_

 _"It's delusional. The calculations alone would take...hundreds of years,"_ continued the general, his voice telling Avery that although he seemed to want the solution to work, even only slightly, he knew it was impossible.

Though they didn't know that the word impossible did not exist in the Doctors' dictionary.

 _"Oh, hundreds and hundreds."_

"But don't worry - I started a very long time ago!" added the Doctor with a smirk.

Avery smiled as she watched the general continue to turn around, watching as, what she assumed were, more footage from other Doctors appeared. A small screen close-by showed Avery that multiple more Tardis' had appeared, and she smiled as she listened to them all report in, talking to each other.

 _"You might say, I've been doing this all my lives!"_ exclaimed the future Doctor.

 _"Calling the War Council of Gallifrey, this is the Doctor."  
"Good luck!"  
"Stand by."  
"Ready?"  
"Commencing calculations."  
"Soon be there."  
"Across the boundaries that divide one universe from another."  
"Just got to lock on to his coordinates."  
"And for my next trick...!"_

 _"I didn't know when I was well off! All 12 of them!"_ exclaimed the general, though Avery smirked again.

"No, sir. All _13_ ," she said, exchanging a toothy grin with her Doctor.

 _"Sir! The Daleks know that something is happening. They're increasing their fire power,"_ reported another Time Lord in the room.

The Doctor quickly began running around the controls again.

 _"Do it, Doctor. Just do it._ Do it! _"_ exclaimed the general.

 _"OK. Gentleman...we're ready,"_ said the future Doctor, Avery glancing at her Doctor as she heard the exclamation: _"Geronimo...!"_

"Allons-y!" exclaimed her Doctor, the entire Tardis suddenly flipping to the side, the room turning darker as all power was diverted to creating this pocket universe.

Though both the Doctor and Avery were simply laughing, smiling widely at each other as the plan succeeded.

 _"Fantastic!"_

 _"Oh, for God's sake! Gallifrey stands!"_


	33. Chapter 10, A Proper Goodbye

**That was the last part of the Day of the Doctor! Now I'm off to start on a new plot for the three of them. I'm not going to follow an episode in the next part of this story, so if anyone has any suggestions for what they want to read about, like a ship or a planet or something, let me know and I can maybe add it into the plot :)**

 **Hope you liked 'the Day of the Doctor'! And thank you everyone who reads what I write. Means a lot to me :)**

* * *

 **Day of the Doctor**

* * *

 **~Chapter 10~  
A Proper Goodbye  
**

Three Tardises lined up against a wall in the national gallery, three doctors sitting on a bench, and two girls watching them with proud looks on their faces. That was the sight one would find after their plan had succeeded. The three Doctors were sat in front of the very painting they had used to get to and from the past and the present (or the past and the past in Avery's world), which had been moved to a special spot in the gallery, a glass case shielding it from harm. It's 3D effects were quite astonishing, though not as astonishing as actually being there and seeing it with your own eyes – as everyone in the room had done.

"So, Gallifrey isn't gone," smiled Avery, breaking the silence.

"Well, in a way it is. It's stuck in a pocket, so to speak, and this particular pocket is close to impossible to find," said her Doctor, earning a look from the future Doctor.

"Oh, always so gloomy and pessimistic," accused the future Doctor, earning a smile from both Avery and Clara. He shifted his gaze from the offended looking Doctor to Avery, a smile gracing his lips, "Yes, Gallifrey is not gone. Its people is alive and well and we don't have to feel guilty no more!"

Avery clasped her hands together in glee, "This calls for celebration. Tea and cake!"

Quickly she disappeared into the Tardis, running past the controls and towards the hallways, past Martha's room, past her own room and straight into the kitchen. It was quite unused, the Doctor only storing some bananas in there and some canned soup, but both Martha and Avery had made it their task to make the kitchen a more habitable place, and therefore there was cake stored in the fridge, a warm water kettle standing on a counter and some tea bags with cups standing next to them. Quickly, Avery turned the kettle on and began running back and forth with plates, cake, forks and finally also some cups with tea in them. As much as the future Doctor had seemed more positive than his past selves, Avery and Clara could not help but notice that he, when he thought nobody was looking, still looked slightly saddened.

Once the cake and tea had been consumed, the Doctor and the future Doctor stood up and walked over to the painting, putting on their glasses.

"What is it actually called?" asked the Doctor.

"Well, there's some debate. Either 'No More' or 'Gallifrey Falls'," replied the future Doctor.

"Not very encouraging," said the past Doctor.

"How did it get here?" asked the Doctor.

"No idea…" replied the future Doctor, shrugging while taking off his glasses.

"There's always something we don't know, isn't there?" asked the Doctor with a frown.

"One should certainly hope so," added the past Doctor before he stood up, leaving both girls sitting on a bench on their own. "Well, gentlemen… it has been an honour and a privilege."

Both Doctors turned to face their past self, nodding their heads at him in recognition.

"Likewise."

"Doctor," greeted the future Doctor.

"And if I grow to be half the man that you are…" the past Doctor began before turning around to face Clara, "Clara Oswald, I shall be happy indeed."

Avery giggled while Clara shared a look with the Doctors behind him, who both looked a little taken aback and offended.

"That's right – aim high," she said as she stood up, placing a kiss to his cheek.

"Avery," greeted the past Doctor who also stood up, shaking his hand with a soft smile on her lips.

He turned one last time to look at his future selves, "I won't remember any of this, will I?"

"The time streams are out of sync. You can't retain it, no," answered the future Doctor.

"So I won't remember that I tried to save Gallifrey, rather than burn it. I'll have to live with that. But for now, for this moment… I am the Doctor again. Thank you," he said, smiling over at both himselves and the two girls. A sudden shocked look took over his face then as he looked at the three Tardises in the room, "Which one is mine!?"

Avery bit her lip to keep from letting out a laugh as both Doctors pointed towards the one Tardis that looked the most beat-up out of all of them, and then everyone watched in silence as he entered his ship and dematerialized in front of them.

"He's going to regenerate," commented the future Doctor before he smiled widely, "Oh, I remember those _fantastic_ years! The accent, the bananas… Jack…"

"The ears," added the Doctor with a frown.

"The leather jacket," added Clara, earning a confused look from the Doctor and Avery while the future Doctor simply chuckled.

"Good times…"

"Well," said the Doctor, giving Avery a look that told her they were about to head off as well. He removed his glasses, staring at his future self, "I won't remember any of this either, so you might as well tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"Where it is we're going that you don't want to talk about," explained the Doctor.

Silence ensued as the future Doctor glanced over at Avery. She furrowed her brow, the Doctor following his future self's gaze over to Avery and frowning as well. The look on the future Doctor's face as he stared at Avery was one he had never given her before. She had felt love and some strange form of protection coming off of him before, but this was different. This was grief.

"Trenzalore," said Clara quickly, suddenly placing herself in front of Avery.

The future Doctor cleared his throat, "Uh, yeah, Trenzalore. Where we're buried. We die in battle among millions. I saw it… our grave…"

"That's not how it's supposed to be."

"That's how the story ends – nothing we can do about it. Trenzalore is where you're going," sighed the future Doctor.

"Oh, never say nothing," smirked the Doctor, shaking the future Doctor's hand vigorously. "Anyway… good to know my future is in safe hands. Keep a tight hold on it, Clara."

"On it," smiled Clara.

Clara and the Doctor shook hands before he walked over to his Tardis, looking back over at Avery. He stayed put there, signalling to her that he was okay with waiting for her to say goodbye to everyone, and she quickly did too.

Hugging Clara tightly, she bid her goodbye as though they were close friends. In a way, the two had bonded quite a bit over the past hours, and it was not the strangest of things that Avery felt saddened about leaving her side. Clara was different; strong and independent, and clearly a good influence on the Doctor.

"You have a good life with him," smiled Avery, earning a nod from Clara.

"You too," she said, taking in a deep breath as she said this, "Make the most out of it."

Avery felt a little confused about her words, though simply nodded her head at the girl before looking over at the future Doctor.

"Sorry about this," she said as she walked over to the future Doctor, earning a confused look from him, "I know we've already said goodbye once."

"Right…" He looked down at his feet, avoiding eye contact with her.

"But, you got to see me again. So, I guess it's true that a goodbye doesn't always have to be forever," said Avery quietly, trying to make him look up at her again. "Maybe there'll be a third time."

The future Doctor finally looked up at her, forcing a smile onto his lips, "Maybe."

"Well, go on then. You've been waiting for ages for a proper goodbye," pressed Clara. Though the future Doctor stayed quiet.

Avery turned to leave, but his hands caught her arm before she could. Once more she turned to him, and found herself suddenly engulfed in a tight hug.

"Listen to me when I say this…" he whispered into her ear, "If you weren't human, if you had been who I thought you were, I would have done things differently. And I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Her lips parted slightly to ask more questions, to say _something_ , but there were no words that wanted to come out. She was just shocked, confused…

"A proper goodbye..." breathed the future Doctor while Avery tried her best as though he had not just scared her a bit. "I'm not used to it. I hate goodbyes."

"But why? It's got the word 'good' in it, surely you can't think it's bad? Badbye doesn't work. No, goodbyes are the beginning of something, not the end. And maybe you won't see me again, but know that _I_ will see _you_ again, and that I look forward to it very, very much."

A sad look took over on the future Doctor's face.

"I will see _you_ again, right? Doctor?"

"I'm not your Doctor. And I never will be," said the future Doctor quietly.

Avery froze.

"I go back to Earth…? Doctor?"

"Just let me say one thing before you go?"

Avery nodded her head. Once more he moved in close towards her ear to whisper something to her. She smiled, a blush appearing on her lips. Gently, she placed a kiss against his cheek before turning around and returning to her own Doctor who opened the door for her, his eyes curious about what his future self had whispered to her. She turned towards the door once she reached the controls.

"Trenzalore," said the Doctor to Clara and his future self while he stood there in the doorway. "We need a new destination, because… I don't want to go."

With that said, the Doctor shut the door behind him and ran over to the controls. The whooshing sound of the engines was heard once more and Avery knew they had left.

"What did he say?" asked the Doctor after a few moments of silence, though Avery could only shake her head at him, a blush on her cheeks.

He moved over to stand next to her, "So, Gallifrey's been saved. I'm not alone in the universe anymore."

"No." Avery could not help the smile that pushed itself onto her lips.

"But I won't remember that I'm not alone. I'll have to think I'm alone until the end of my days."

She grabbed his hand, staring up at him as he stared back down at her. Once more electricity ran through their skin where they touched. Though this time it was different. This time, Avery _knew_.

"Martha slept through this whole ordeal." Avery smirked at the thought before she grew serious again. "How many adventures do you have without us while we sleep?"

"See, that is the reason why Time Lords don't sleep as much," said the Doctor, pointing a finger at her.

"Oh, please."

She chuckled nevertheless at him.

"When's our memory going to fade? When will we forget?"

"Oh, soon I suppose. Might even already have started without us knowing," said the Doctor. "So before you forget… What **did** he whisper to you?"

Avery stared up at him, the Tardis engines humming beside them. Gently, while also surprising the Doctor, she grabbed a hold of both his hands, standing up on her tiptoes to reach up to his lips. Hovering just in front of his and staring up into his dark eyes, she smiled and whispered what he had said to her:

"I love you."

Without hesitation, she smashed her lips against his. At first the Doctor was completely at a loss for what to do, but once Avery began to move away again, the Doctor responded by moving towards her so the kiss never ended. Their lips felt warm where they touched and the tips of their noses too, as they moved against each other during the kiss. Their intertwined fingers were warm and tingly as well and everything was _perfect_...

Until suddenly, Avery didn't remember what their conversation had been about. Confused and dazed, she moved backwards, their intertwined fingers releasing each other. Both stared at each other, wondering why the other was standing so close. Just as Avery was about to ask, Martha entered the room, fully dressed and fully rested.

"What? What did I miss?" she asked, noticing how they both were staring at her with furrowed brows, still only centimetres apart. "Wait – did I interrupt something?"

"I – no!" exclaimed Avery, moving even further away from the Doctor.

"No, Avery just couldn't sleep, so she spent the night with me. I mean- she spent it beside me. Here. In the control room... I should just stop talking now."

Avery chuckled at his antics, remembering how she had gotten out of bed to talk to the Doctor. Funnily enough, she barely remembered any of their conversations. Though she figured she must have dozed off.

"You're in your pyjamas still. And your hair is a mess!" Martha walked over to her. "This is the perfect time to let me curl it."

Avery smiled widely at her, "Fine. Give us thirty minutes, Doctor, and we'll be ready for our next adventure."

"Alright, an hour it is."

"I said thirty minutes-"

"Which always means an hour when it comes to the two of you. You talk too much."

"Just don't go running off on your own, okay?"

Avery and Martha began to walk away already before the Doctor could respond, though they heard his response as he yelled it loud and clearly:

"I never do anything without the two of you!"


	34. Book IV: Brittle Bones

**Brittle Bones**

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 **Plot:** Avery awakens with a start and finds herself acting... strange. Powerful emotions reside inside of her, and none of them are happiness. Martha and the Doctor seem to know something Avery does not, which in turns does not help Avery's mood. How will things go when the three time travellers find themselves in the late 18th century where murders are taking place and rumours of walking dead are haunting the villagers?

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 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Doctor Who! The BBC does! I only own my own characters and their own stories.

* * *

 **A/N:** Another story made up by me! Things are going to progress a bit more in this story and we're going to find out more about Avery and her connection with the watch - which isn't as obvious of a connection as you might think :p

I hope you like this and I hope you enjoyed the previous part as well :) Remember, nobody remembers that but us readers ;) It was just a little insight into what might happen between the Doctor and Avery.

Also, for those of you who are wondering why Avery doesn't remember it since there isn't a clash between her and a future/past Avery - well, consider it a hint as well to what might happen in the future. A very vague hint :p It'll all become clear towards the end! Don't worry.


	35. Chapter 1, an Important Watch?

**Brittle Bones**

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 **~Chapter 1~  
** **an Important Watch?**

Gasping for air, Avery shot up into a sitting position. Her heart was beating a million times per minute and her entire body hurt. Shaky fingers brushed through her hair and she took in a few deep breaths to try and calm down. She was in her bed, in the Tardis, which made her feel a little safer, but there was still something missing, something that made her feel completely and utterly panicked.

Still not fully calm, she turned to her left where her nightstand table stood. However, it was empty. Her brain began working hard to find out where she had put her watch instead of where it always was; right there on the nightstand table, though she could not remember. Beginning to panic even more, Avery jumped up from the bed and sprinted towards her door. Now sweating and probably looking like a mess, Avery ran towards the controls where Martha and the Doctor were stood close together, talking.

Avery froze at the sight of them standing so close to each other and her heart was filled with rage. It startled her, the rage, as she had never really felt something so intense before. When she took a few steps forwards, the Doctor and Martha noticed her presence and stepped away from each other, looking at Avery with worried eyes.

"What's wrong?" asked Martha worriedly, though Avery only unwillingly shot her a glare.

"My watch. Where is it?" When her voice reached her ears, she did not recognize her own voice. As a matter of fact, it almost felt as though she had not said those words at all, but someone else, or something else that resided inside of her. "Give it to me. Now!"

The Doctor took a step forwards, now standing directly next to the controls. His eyes narrowed in that signature, analysing look of his while he slowly reached down into his own pocket from where he took out the watch Avery had so suddenly felt completely dependent on. He reached out his hand towards her, the watch lying in the palm of his hand. Martha watched with anticipating eyes as Avery walked over to the Doctor, her face still in a glare.

However, as she reached out her hand to grab the watch, her fingers hesitated to grab it. For a few seconds, she seemed to regain control of her own senses and she realized that the panic, the anger, was probably caused by this watch; a watch she had found once on a beach when she was but a child; a watch that meant basically nothing to her…

Right?

Her fingers curled around it and she retrieved it quickly. Almost immediately, her heart stilled and her panic dissipated. The glare slowly faded from her face and she looked back up at Martha and the Doctor. She wanted to apologize to them, but something hindered her. Maybe it was the fact that she was unsure of whether or not that had been Avery who had behaved like so that made her not apologize, or it was the fact that she still was not herself and she actually felt little remorse.

Either way, it felt as though she was missing something. When did the watch become so important to her?

"Right!" exclaimed the Doctor suddenly, clasping his hands together. "Where are we off to now?"

Martha reacted the same as the Doctor, a smile on her lips and her eyes clearly avoiding Avery even though she was acting 'normal'. Something was up…

"Maybe another one of those planets they've turned into malls-"

"No! No, no…" complained the Doctor with a sigh, "I'm not going shopping again. Something fun."

"Shopping _is_ fun," retorted Martha sassily.

"No," smirked the Doctor, pulling a lever that made the Tardis suddenly shudder. Avery grabbed onto the railing with one hand, the other still clutching her watch, as the engines of the Tardis began to work; the familiar wheezing noise entering their ears. " _This_ is fun! Allons-y!"

"What are you doing?" asked Martha, clutching onto the railing as well.

"Letting her decide where to go!" exclaimed the Doctor with a laugh, holding onto the controls as the Tardis shook them back and forth.

Finally, they landed, and Avery watched the Doctor pull forth the tv-screen, "Ah, late 18th century on - Oh… Earth. We're on Earth!"

"We better get dressed for the occasion then," smiled Martha, turning around towards Avery. She did not miss how Martha's smile faltered just the bit before she grabbed onto Avery's arm – still pretending that everything was normal. It bothered Avery tremendously that something was wrong… that something was _not_ normal… but she was unsure of whether or not now was the time to ask about it.

They reached the wardrobe of the Tardis quickly, and Martha threw a few garments at Avery's face to try on. The sensation of something being fake was gone when the two of them were in the wardrobe, and Avery smiled again, moving off behind a curtain to try on what Martha had given her: A long black dress with a white corset that made Avery's chest hurt tremendously. What women wouldn't do to look pretty back in the days…

Martha wore something similar, though her dress was purple with a white corset. They both wore black, high heeled shoes matching the description of what used to be the fashion of the late 18th century – at least for the upper class. Both grabbed a hat as well before helping each other to put up their hair prettily. Unbeknownst to Martha, Avery had placed her watch in a small bag she had grabbed when Martha was not looking. The idea of letting the watch stay in the Tardis suddenly felt… scary to her.

Arm in arm, the two returned to the controls.

"Are you not changing, Doctor?" asked Martha, letting go of Avery.

The Doctor glanced at her and then Avery, his eyes only quickly scanning what they were wearing before he shook his head, heading over towards the door, "If you walk as though you own the place, you usually can get away with wearing anything. Now, come on!"

The three exited the Tardis, finding themselves in a dark alley in between two wooden houses. The ground they walked on was muddy due to recent rain, though even with their high heels, Martha and Avery could walk normally.

After the Doctor had locked the door of the Tardis and placed the key in his pocket, he led the way out of the alley. The village they had landed in looked just like those old pictures and paintings; muddy roads with people walking back and forth on them. The people wore clothes resembling what social class they were in; either fancy clothing like those Martha and Avery had chosen, or less fancy and clearly re-used clothing the less fortunate had on. Women walked with laundry or bags of groceries on the roads, while the men walked with books or chopped up wood, showing immediately what was expected of each gender. Horse-drawn carriages slowly moved up and down the roads, past the people as carefully as they could.

A group of people were standing not too far away from them and as they walked past them, the three time travellers overheard some words that made Martha and Avery quite excited.

"The local market is open today. Are you going there, Tom?"

"Heavens no! My wife does the grocery shopping, thank you very much!"

"They do not sell just crops, Tom! They are selling cloths too, and jewellery! It's a sight to behold it is, that market."

"Well, I might pop down sometime later in the afternoon. But I have to be at home on time to make sure the children are home before curfew."

Martha sped up slightly to walk next to the Doctor, but before she could utter a word, the Doctor held up a hand, "I know what you're going to say, but we're not going to go _shopping_."

"But this is a market from the past! Imagine the things we could find! And, if we buy something now, it might be worth a million in the future. Or present. Whatever way you want to look at it."

"You know I won't allow that," the Doctor scolded, causing Martha to pout before nodding her head.

"I bet the market is the place to go to if you want to find out whether there is some adventure to be found here," added Avery, joining the two by walking on the other side of the Doctor.

He glanced down at her and for a moment, Avery feared things were going to get fake and awkward again – but then the Doctor rolled his eyes and sighed, "Fine."

Martha and Avery shared a victorious grin before taking the lead, leading the Doctor towards where most of the other people on the road were headed; The market.


End file.
